


--In Life

by ThomE_Gemcity_06



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Affairs, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Disregard Year 4&5 on the Island Lian Yu, Dub-con/Consensual, F/M, Family Drama, Friendship, Heat Suppressants - with Scent Blocking Elements, M/M, MBreastfeeding, Mpreg, Omega!Tommy, Omega'verse - A/B/O Dynamics, Parenthood, Past/Referenced Child Abuse, Romance, Slash/Smut, Sped up Timeline, Tag: Season 3 "Sara" flashbacks, Unplanned Pregnancy, Unrequited Love, Violence, Violence against someone pregnant, hurt!tommy, omega in heat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-07-22 09:07:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 121,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7428643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThomE_Gemcity_06/pseuds/ThomE_Gemcity_06
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Getting an alert on Oliver's email, Tommy heads to Hong Kong against Malcolm's wishes. Soon after, he's kidnapped, off his Suppressants—and his Alpha kidnapper just seems and smells so damn familiar.</p>
<p>Episode Tag: Season 3 "Sara" flashbacks.<br/>{Title Change!}</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I'm Getting on a Jet Plane!

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow!  
> Tag: Season 3 "Sara" flashbacks - disregard year 4&5 on the Island, and a sped up timeline.

Tommy knew that he shouldn't have answered his cell phone when he saw Malcolm's name come up on the screen. He should have just hit 'end' or let the call go to voicemail. Nothing good ever came out of it when the two Merlyn men made contact, especially these last few years—ever since Oliver. But he could estimate that the true tear in their relationship came with the death of Rebecca Merlyn. Malcolm's wife and mate, and Tommy's mother.

"Hello?"

" _Thomas_." Malcolm said curtly, his irritation shinning through in the use of his son's full name. " _What do you think you're doing_?"

"Vacation." He said easily. "Starling's been a bit boring lately. Thought I'd just pop over to somewhere less _repressing_."

"You might have my name, but don't think you can just do what you like."

Tommy rolled his eyes. When hasn't he heard that? "I think the pilot likes me more than you. That's not my fault."

Maybe he answered it just so he could flip his father the proverbial bird, blatantly disregard the Alpha, disobey the old tag-line and spiel—without immediate repercussions—

" _Tommy, if you even think about taking off_ —"

Yes, he'd taken Malcolm's Private Jet without asking, but the planned flight course was already underway. They were already in the air and over water, heading to Hong Kong. So it was with relish that Tommy hung up on his asshole father mid-sentence.

No way was this jet turning around. He would magically learn how to fly it himself before that happened. No Alpha, not even his father, was going to stop him.

Like with Laurel's mother about Sara, Tommy simply could just not accept the fact that Oliver was dead. They were best-friends in life, brothers. Tommy loved Oliver. Was _in_ love with Oliver. The only way that Tommy would truly accept that the Alpha was dead, was if he could see the body with his own eyes.

But this just proved it, the alert that he had gotten that someone tried to log-in to Oliver’s e-mail account.

He didn't allow, wouldn't allow, realistic thoughts like someone decided to hack into his account. Or that, if Oliver had been alive this entire time, why didn't he come back home? Because thoughts like that just lead to thoughts like: what if he was being held prisoner and this e-mail alert was his attempt calling for help, and that something else terrible happened when he never got the chance to actually send the SOS?

Tommy adjusted the buckled around his waist and leaned back into his seat, staring out into the open sky through the small jet window next to him. He raised the tumbler to his lips and sipped his scotch. His father only stocked the best—thanks dad! He had a long flight ahead of him and decided to just focused on the fact that someone tried to access the account, and that someone could be Oliver.

He sighed.

Malcolm had been raising him to be an Alpha, he expected his son to be an Alpha. He'd even have accepted Tommy being a Beta like his mother. But it wasn't like Tommy could _choose_ his Dynamic. It was like that stupid saying... his Dynamic chose him.

When Rebecca was killed, Malcolm vanished for two years. Upon his return, the Alpha was different than his ever remembered. He was cold, calculating, manipulative, filled with such an anger that it burned not like fire, but like dry ice. It was hardly ever a blazing, out of control passion. But an intense, focused, and cruel demonstration.

Malcolm's reaction when Tommy started to present his first Heat a year later, was one the Omega would let carry him into his Dynamic for the longest time, until he met Oliver:

He'd back-handed the eleven-year-old boy so hard, he was thrown across the room into the side table, left with a bruised ribs and a split cheek. Before the Alpha had grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and threw him into one of the disused rooms in the guest wing that hadn't been occupied since his mother was alive.

He had been confused and hurting. He pounded on the door, screamed for Malcolm. But there was never any answer, no one came. It was almost twenty-four hours into his heat and he was nearly delirious with the explosion of hormones that were wracking his every nerve, tearing him open, readying him to have that deep craving filled.

And then Malcolm came back. He unlocked the door, stepped in, shut it behind him, and looked at his pathetic son.

Malcolm's presence had two clearly different effects on Tommy. The smell of his Alpha pheromones, seemed to take off the edge, make him a little more clear-headed. But the sight of his father, the look on his face... Malcolm had looked at him in disgust. That his own son could be reduced to something so weak and wanting.

"No son of mine is going to be this weak, mewling, sex-craving deviant." Malcolm told him. He took out a bottle of pills.

After locking Tommy up, his next move had been quickly decided. He called a meeting with his private doctor and had him prescribe the Heat Suppressants. They would have to do for now.

"You will take these, Tommy."

"Dad—!"

"I want no arguments." And Malcolm forced him to take the orange tablet.

He would immediately task his medical and technological divisions at Merlyn Global Group to creating a device that could be implanted and stop the heats permanently. Of course, that would leave Tommy as his sole heir, with male Omegas only able to conceive, not impregnate. But he had a few years yet to device a plan for a progressing bloodline, like his plans for the Glades. To have the perfect plan, it needed preparation. Malcolm left him a plate of food, before locking him in the room again.

Confused, angry, scared, Tommy was still starving, so he ate.

His hormones were going haywire and were off the charts, like in any Omega Heat-cycle, where the body became extremely fertile (and wherein it hit males harder with the pre-heat because they actually had to developed a uterus, before the full-heat hit). So typically, Heat Suppressants were taken _after_ the first Heat and the new hormone levels could level out for the new Omega.

For the next week or so, Malcolm came every day, to bring him food and make sure he took the pills. Tommy never knew how long his first cycle truly was, the pills messed even further with his hormones. Attempting to suppress and strangle them from existence, even as they reared and fought back. Messing with him on a level he couldn't understand, unbalancing him as they corrupted and interrupted the natural puberty of him becoming an Omega.

He became sick, his body trying to fight two different ways.

He didn't have the will, the energy, the want, to move, to get out of bed. He was pathetic, weak, just like his dad said.

Then finally, he levelled out. His head cleared, he was Tommy Merlyn again and had control of his body, his mind. He didn't go into Heat, he didn't get Slick in preparation of a Knot and Breeding.

Malcolm wanted an strong, aggressive Alpha son, like Oliver. Not a fragile, submissive Omega like Tommy. So for all intense and purpose, Malcolm turned him into a Beta.

And it was from then on, that Tommy took the Suppressant religiously. For the longest time, it was the only thing that he did responsibly. It was the Alpha's blazing out of control fire, that turned into cold calculation, that garnered him a Beta son.

It was only an unmarveld thing that he seemed to find himself surrounded by Alphas. Everyone he seemed to know was an Alpha. But his father taught him, beat the Omega instinct to submit to every Alpha at every turn out of him, to act like an unaffected Beta. Oliver knew his secret, but never held it against him.

But what Tommy discovered, what his best-friend helped him discover—was that he wasn't weak. If he was, he would have broken to his father long ago, instead of disobeying and disregarding the controlling Alpha at every turn he could get. ~

He was jerked awake, after must having fallen asleep sometime during the flight, to the pilot telling him over the speaker that they would be landing in Hong Kong in the next fifteen minutes. Tommy cleared his throat and wiped the sleep from his blue-eyes, straightening in his seat, preparing for the task ahead of him.

[tbc]

**aRRoW**

 


	2. In the Rapids Without a Life Vest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy Arrives in Hong Kong... with a slight hitch in plans.

**aRRoW**

Tommy knew it was childish and simply not true—that it was his act of defiance towards his father that was coming back to bite him in the ass as he disembarked off the jet in the Hong Kong airport. He didn't want to believe it was because he jumped into this head-first without looking (i.e. doing his do-diligence), when that was exactly what it was. He was just so excited for a lead after three-years of dead air. But now, it wasn't just biting him in the ass, it was tearing him a new one.

He had to go through customs. There was no way around it.

Being a Merlyn in China didn't give him privilege like the name might have in Starling, despite the fact that Merlyn Global Group did have business attachments in the Country (and the fact that he didn't think it a great idea to advertise his whereabouts if one of the worse-case scenarios were true). So, unlike back at Starling Airport with his Private Jet and his name, he was just a tourist here. He certainly wasn't in Kansas anymore.

It wasn't as if he'd brought anything illegal. Or so he'd thought. He wasn't sure how long he was going to be in Hong Kong, so as a precaution, he'd packed a month's worth of Suppressants. Apparently, the security officers didn't like that one bit, if their broken English was anything to go by. It was considered smuggling or something, or it was illegal in Hong Kong, one of the ingredients in the pill was banded from the City. No amount of reasoning (i.e. arguing), seemed to move them on their decision—and then he was promptly guided from the queue, and left on the bustling curb in a place he'd never been.

It wouldn't be the first time that he'd gone off Suppressants, and he was certainly a lot more stable emotionally, but this was less than ideal at the moment.

Things kind of went down hill for all of them when they got the news that _The Queen's Gambit_ went down. That Oliver, Robert, and Sara were dead. Lost and swallowed by his grief over Oliver, Tommy might have went into a downward spiral (though it wasn't like he was the only one). Drinking, partying, drugs, gambling—and he stopped taking his Suppressants.

It had not been pretty and lead to a very toxic, twisted thing between Laurel and him, trying to find a lifejacket in each other for the ragging rapids of grief.

Being fucked by Laurel (and even getting to fuck her back), had left him with an even bigger hole inside him than when they started. Because that first Heat, he nearly went insane, he nearly drove her there as well. It lasted five-days. Five-days they were holed up in her apartment—and that was bum-fuck long for a male Omega if he ever heard it. He thought maybe it would somehow make him closer to Oliver, because he fucked her too, loved her like Tommy wished the Alpha would him, even if he sailed off with Sara in his bed. And Laurel did it as some act of revenge. Oliver cheated on her with her own sister, so she decided to screw his best-friend into the mattress.

Who knew how long the might have kept it up. Malcolm Merlyn certainly couldn't stop it, forget about Quentin Lance. If it weren't for the biggest scare in either of their lives—a pregnancy scare. It was like bucket of acid on either of their respective penises and put a cold hard stop to their torrid affair. That had been how Laurel actually found out his Dynamic as an Omega (for which she agreed to keep secret). Their relationship had been rocky ever since and Tommy went back on his Suppressants right quick and dealt with a nice little chat with Malcolm when his dad found out about it.

Oliver seemed to have a thing for Alphas. Maybe it was the fact that it was hard-won, nearly impossible, for a male Alpha to impregnate a female Alpha. It was certainly a thing why Tommy tended to stay away from Alphas himself. Because despite the Heat Suppressants, which prevent his heat, hence the only time as a male Omega that he became fertile, he didn't want to risk the chance of somehow, still becoming pregnant. It wasn't that he didn't want children, he just didn't want it with a one-night stand, because let's be honest, he always had the secret fantasy that it would be with Oliver. But he'd only ever seen Oliver date women, them being Alphas more times than not—strong, confident. Like Laurel Lance, McKenna Hall, Sara Lance.

But Tommy wasn't even in the running. A repressed Omega, who would want to deal with that? It depressed him to no end to think that Malcolm Merlyn might be right.

He just wished he'd been able to take his pill today—if only to stave of his first Heat in two-years just that little bit longer.

Within an hour, he'd found his driver (yes, he'd at least sorted a few things out for his trip), and was on his way deep into the crowded, bustling city of Hong Kong to his Hotel room that he'd booked for the duration of his stay and paid, courtesy of his trust fund and father. He may not have wanted to advertise himself, but rich habits tended to died hard, especially in a foreign country—and his suite was on the roof, the entrance, a beautiful and elaborate garden.

He unpacked and headed straight out. He wanted to at least get something done before his Heat hit him. The location of the trace on the e-mail log-in.

The alert set up that was on Oliver's e-mail, had been his idea, but the execution was not his own. Tommy was not stupid, but he wasn't some computer genius either—that was where Felicity Smoak came in. The beautiful, genius, blond Beta that he found on Craig's List (it/she wasn't as bad as it sounded), was a babbling Angel someone, somewhere, thoughtfully sent to Tommy. The friendship was an easy one between them, she was actually next to Oliver in his regards to friends. She'd guessed sooner that he was in love with Oliver as more than a best-friend, than she would have ever guessed him an Omega before he trusted her to the truth.

She was like his secret police cache, but 50x better. She set everything up. It was her skills that got him to Hong Kong. And it was her skill that narrowed the search from City-wide, to the Chinese version of the Glades. But no matter who he asked, who he showed Oliver's picture too (Felicity had even printed him out several versions of what Oliver might look like from the one that he had given her; long hair, beard, etc. after a few years presumed dead), but he got nowhere with it. He was either generally ignored, they didn't speak English, or they tried to sell him something.

He went back to the Hotel before it got too dark. Jet-legged and exhausted, frustrated. It wasn't like he expected it to be that easy, but he kind of hoped it would be. Like he was down there, showing around Oliver's picture, he would turn a corner, and suddenly, that blond Alpha would be there.

He didn't receive any more calls from Malcolm. He wasn't an Alpha to be hung up on twice (which Tommy would have gladly done. Answered the call, just to hang up). But he turned off his cell phone anyways. Did he even have cell coverage in China?

So, after ordering room service, e-mailing Felicity with his none-progress, he collapsed onto the large bed for the night, feeling dejected.

It was the next day that Tommy felt his pre-Heat start to kick in, warning him of much bigger things ahead. That was about as useful as Tommy always found it. It was the warning bell for him to get the hell out of dodge and lock the door behind him.

His hormones seemed to be jumping at the fact that their jailers (of synthetically reproduced Alpha pheromones from the Suppressants) had been absent, and proceeded to start the process of flushing his system and fucking him completely over. He knew what Malcolm thought about him and his weak hormones, knew that his father was having Merlyn Global Group develop something that would suppress than more permanently than a pill that had to be popped daily—and it was times like this, that Tommy couldn't wait for the fucking thing.

He paced up the walls for a bit, TV on in the background as he waited impatiently, irritated at his predicament. He was overly warm, sweating, there was an itch on his skin, deep inside of him that was slowly growing. He was antsy, and wanting—it was this part of being an Omega that made him hate it and welcome Malcolm forcing him into Beta-ism.

He decided to hop into a cool shower.

He jerked off in the shower, hoping that it might curb the intensity of the on-coming Heat, to help ease him into it, and instead kicked the entire door down. Afterward, all it did was make him crave a calloused palm that only ever touched him with friendly familiarity—and the one Knot that he could never have.

His cock instantly hardened at the thought of his best-friend, made all the more intense at the possibility and hope that he might see Oliver again—that was why he was in Hong Kong, after all, going through this dreaded heat.

Tommy had wanted to get straight into his search (though he had only been allowed those few hours that day before). But without his Suppressants, he was going into Heat—and the last thing he wanted to do was run around in a place he didn't know, without his full mind about him, and the desire for a Knot, any Knot.

He knew that coming off the Suppressants could be intense—his stint with Laurel showed him that. He just prayed that this time, it didn't last a week like with her. He still didn't know if that was the length of his normal Heat, or if it was because he just came off the Suppressants, or even if it was because he was with an Alpha at the time. He couldn't waste away in this Hotel room that long, he had important things to do.

If it did last that long, he might even become desperate enough to call the Hotel "hot-line" that the some of the upper Hotels had to cater to such things. It was like Call Girl service, but for Omegas in Heat, where they bring in an Alpha. But he wasn't sure he could bring himself to do, even if the Heat drove him insane. Despite what Malcolm called him, he wasn’t weak.

He'd get through this Heat—alone—and then he knew that he wouldn't have to worry about another one for a while. Before that time came around again, he knew he'd be done here in Hong Kong—but he wasn't entirely sure the answers he got would be the ones that he wanted.

He stepped from the shower, dried and dressed. He took the cordless room phone out onto the garden terrace to call room service, a light breeze ruffling his damp hair in the falling night. Might as well get something to eat before he lost coherency at the necessity of food and went completely insane for a Knot he couldn't have. He leaned on the railing for a moment, looking out into the city. All the buildings, all the lights, all the people, so active, even as it grew late. Now it was time for the night crawlers. It was no different than in Starling.

Finished, he went back into the room with a sigh, locking the glass door. He went to the counter and put the phone back in the holder. Pausing as to Scent as he swore he could smell honey and black pepper (something old and new at the same time)—just as a strong, black-clad arm wrapped around his arms and chest, and the other hand wrapped around his nose and mouth with a stinking cloth that made his eyes water and the back of his throat and nose burn.

He screamed against the rag, struggled against his assailant, but it was only for a moment as he grew weak, and then became unconscious.

The masked, black-clad man carefully lowered to his knees on the floor, Tommy unconscious in his arms. Under the scarf, Oliver Queen looked down at his best-friend in life, who had come all the way to Hong Kong, just to search for him.

He swallowed the lump in his throat.

His gloved finger traced the line from Tommy's temple to his jaw, tenderly. For all he felt guilty over getting Sara killed and to betray her sister, for betraying Laurel like that, Robert killing himself so that he could live... In the photo that he'd had on the Island of him, Tommy, Laurel, and Sara—it was the Omega that he looked to most. Tommy he missed the keenest.

Amanda Waller would kill him if Oliver didn't make him go away, so no matter how much it hurt him or Tommy, he would do it to save the Omega. Would make him think Oliver Queen was dead.

He climbed to his feet, and hefted the man over his shoulder. He carried him out of the room, through the roof garden, and down the back stairs to the waiting van that Maseo had reluctantly allowed him.

[tbc]

**aRRoW**

　

 


	3. From Muted Heat tp Falring Passion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There be Smut here. Tommy/Oliver. And talking. Nothing like a good little chat while Knotted, eh?

**aRRoW**

Tommy came awake almost groggily, blinking his eyes, but he couldn't see. He could feel material around his head, a hood—and then it came like a slap in the face. The arms around his chest, the close press of a man behind him, the cloth over mouth and nose, and then darkness. He jerked, but he couldn’t move his hands—he was tied to a very uncomfortable wooden chair.

Fuck. Fear and irritation licked at him at the same time as he came to the obvious and only conclusion. Felicity's concern that he'd brushed off, biting him in his leaking ass. Tommy Merlyn had just gotten kidnapped. He bit his lip to keep back the plaintive sound of Omega in distress.

He knew instinctively that he wasn't alone. Tommy couldn't see the man, but he could sense the Alpha behind him in the shadows. Same as he genuinely knew that it was the same one that had grabbed him. The situation was made even more stressful that he was in Heat and there was an Alpha right there—

"Where am I? What's going on?"

The hood was yanked off his head, but darkness continued to prevail. He was blindfolded, but not gagged. He could see the shine of the bright lights through the dark veil, but couldn't make anything out.

Tommy licked the taste of chemicals from his lips. It was unnerving not to be able to see him, but _feel_ him there. He inhaled sharply and puffed out his chest, putting on some Beta bravado: "I don't know who you are, but you're making a big mistake. If you let me go now, no one has to know about this."

Silence met his offer.

"Do you have any idea who you're messing with?"

"I know exactly who you are—Thomas Merlyn." The gruff voice spoke from behind him for the first time, and Tommy shivered at the feeling of his rough voice. "And you've come looking for Oliver Queen."

Tommy stilled, his head turned towards the voice behind him. "How... how do you know that?" apprehension filled him.

"A simple hack of a billionaire's email account. I knew someone would come looking for him, given the chance. But I thought it would be... his mother, maybe his sister. But you—"

"Stop it." Tommy pleaded. "He isn't—"

" _You_ ," the Alpha bowled over him. "The only son of the CEO of Merlyn Global." He was mocking, "Tell me, does your father know where his little... _Omega_ has run off too?"

Of course the Alpha could smell his Heat. Tommy gulped against his unease of where that might lead. But he shook the spiraling thoughts from his head and ploughed ahead to what was more important.

"You know who I am. Know why I'm here." Tommy gripped the edges of the arm rests his wrists were tied to. "But I don't believe you. Oliver—"

"Oliver Queen is dead." The Alpha growled harshly. "He's rotting at the bottom of the ocean. And you will too if your father doesn't pay your ransom."

"He isn't dead!" Tommy screamed in bald denial.

Oliver gritted his teeth in frustration as he pulled down his scarf around his neck. Tommy was being stubborn. By God how Oliver missed it, the sound of his voice, his strength—but now was not the time. He had to drill it home for the closeted Omega that Oliver Queen as the Merlyn knew him, was dead. Just a few more harsh words had to drive it home.

Oliver leaned over Tommy's trembling shoulder (a mistake he would realize too late), close to his ear. His beard tickled the corner of Tommy's jaw under his ear, his breath curling around the side of his face and neck.

Oliver took a breath. "No more—" he stopped just as fast as the sweet scent of the Omega in front of him tied to the chair, swirled around in his lungs, swam on his taste buds—and pooled hotly in his balls. "You're... in Heat." His voice was especially husky.

Unconsciously, he turned into the sent, his nose buried in the sweat-damp hair above his ear, breathing in his Scent. Like vanilla, citrus and sweet Maplewood.

"Oh, God." Tommy whimpered. This was his worse nightmare. He took a shuddering breath as he felt the Alpha turn his head, the tip of his nose brushing the shell of his ear—and his Omega hormones acted against him as he Scented the Alpha's pheromones. It was homey, softly sweet like honey. It was familiar, but for the black pepper that added a sharpness, an edge to it.

"You always smelled so sweet, Tommy." Oliver murmured, his conscious work of changing his voice, gone.

Tommy gasped as the Alpha's words registered. The change in the voice. Oliver's voice. "Oliver?"

Oliver's eyes snapped open as he realized his mistake and he jerked back from the Omega. "I told you, Oliver Queen is dead!"

"No!" Tommy denied, but not in simply pure denial this time, this time there was true energy and sureness as he shook his blindfolded head rapidly. "I knew it. I knew you were alive. I knew that e-mail wasn't a hoax. You—"

"Stop!" Oliver commanded.

Tommy went quiet instantly at the Alpha Voice, and his body instantly, willingly, reacted to it. He leaned his head back towards the voice, a little sound in the back of his throat.

Oliver pulled the scarf back around his mouth and nose, hoping to help clear his head, trying to block out Tommy naturally alluring and distracting scent, sweetened by his Heat—but the scarf just seemed to be infused with the scent instead, from when it was against the Omega's Scent gland when he whispered in his ear. He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. Next he spoke, it was in his altered voice and menacing—everything to contradict his hard cock.

"You made the biggest mistake in coming to Hong Kong to search for your dead friend... little Omega."

"You're wrong... Oliver."

"I am not—"

"You are!" Tommy shouted him, his chin raised defiantly. "I can Scent you. I know your pheromones—no matter how long you've been gone. I could never, would never forget it. It's a little different now—but I could never forget my Oliver." His voice broke lightly.

He thought Laurel was beautiful and smart, and perhaps something might have been there if everything hadn't been so fucked up—with themselves, with each other, with Oliver and Sara.

And Thea, they became surrogate brother and sister, though they had that through Oliver when he was alive, it deepened after his 'death'. Her Scent smelled half-way like Oliver's, and Tommy couldn't help but be drawn to it, crave it in her presence. But then the other half was a mix that halted him steel-toed in his tracks—that instinctively made him never want to cross that line with the young Alpha, other than she was Ollie's kid sister.

But Oliver just seemed to Slick his core. They just instinctively got each other. Loved each other to a fault. Would jump head-first into a brawl to defend the other. They were best-friends in life, brothers. Oliver loved him, no matter how fucked up Malcolm made him over his dynamic. And Tommy loved him more than he was supposed to.

"Your Oliver." Oliver repeated quietly and swallowed. He stepped forward, looming behind Tommy, who stayed straight-backed, knowing exactly where he was. With a bare palm, Oliver grabbed a handful of short dark hair and jerked his head back a little. "And what if you're wrong?"

"I'm not." Tommy smiled bitter-sweet. "The only way you're going to get rid of me, is if you kill me—Ollie. I don't know why this is happening, why you're doing this, why you can't just come home—I don't care." He growled. "I finally found you and I’m not letting you go!"

"Stubborn Omega." Oliver growled in frustration and tossed his head forward. "Always disobeying your Alphas." And he all but admitted the truth.

"You know my father beat that out of me." Tommy said all too casually. He leaned his head back again, knowing the Alpha was just there. He could just feel the crown of his head brush against Oliver's shirt.

Oliver unconsciously took that small step forward and closed the distance. The back of Tommy's head rested against his muscled abdomen. The Omega could feel the phantom brushes of Oliver's confined erection against the back of his shoulders at every breath. He gasped as rough-calloused fingers brushed along the column of his stretched throat, his Adam's apple bobbing. The touch of the Alpha electrified him.

Oliver’s palm gently cupped his throat, while the other brushed over his shoulder and down his chest. Tommy closed his eyes despite the blindfold as he felt warm breath against his hot forehead as Oliver leaned over him.

Tommy felt the slight rough brush of Oliver's beard under his nose, as he brushed his lips with his own. Tommy tilted his chin up, pressing his lips against Oliver's eagerly. He felt the brush of the Alpha's tongue, seeking, asking, before he opened up to him.

Tommy moaned against the feel of Oliver's tongue, playing with his own, exploring and marking the inside of his mouth. Oliver's lips were chapped, his own mouth was dry from the chloroform, but the Alpha soon had him salivating, and wet with Slick between his cheeks.

Oliver's fingers snuck under the hem of Tommy's shirt, and they petted the happy line of hair under his bellybutton, making the Omega purr. His hips thrust upward, his straining hard cock outlined clearly in the crotch of his pants. When Oliver finally pulled back lightly, their breathless, gasping breaths collided. Both far more aroused now that when they began.

"Oliver," Tommy whined. "Get me out of these." He pulled blindly against the restraints.

"Easy," Oliver chuckled, laying his forehead against Tommy’s.

"I want to see you, Ollie. I want to touch you." His tone was almost fevered.

"Tommy..." Oliver sighed softly, his eyes squeezed closed.

"I want you to touch me."

He breathed Tommy in deeply. It was bad enough that he messed this up and Tommy found out that he was still alive. The whole point of 'kidnapping' Tommy was to scare him away from Hong Kong before he discovered that Oliver was still alive, so Amanda Waller didn't have a reason to assassinate the Omega to prevent him from spreading the truth because apparently he was her asset now.

That kiss shouldn't have happened. He didn't want another person that he loved, die because of his mistakes. If something happened to Tommy because he was being stupid again—he wouldn't be able to live with himself. He was supposed to break Tommy’s world to save the both of them…

"Please," Tommy's broken and desperate plea broke something in Oliver that had kept him alive the last three years (other than of one day going home to Starling, back to his family, to fix things with Laurel, to see Tommy again, to be with him), his resolve.

Oliver raised his head, brought his hands up—and pulled the dark blindfold from around Tommy's eyes, staring down at him from above. Tommy blink rapidly at the bright light shining from construction lamps set up around him. He neck was starting to ache, but he didn't care because right now, he was staring at his long-thought dead best-friend.

He was different. Tommy could see there were a few hard edges when they used to be soft, careless, free—but it was still his Oliver.

"Heh." Tommy chuckled and gave a watery smile. "It's really you." He didn't want to blink for fear that the Alpha might disappear in front of him, but his eyes were watering and he wasn't sure if it was from that, or tears. "You look exactly like the picture,"

"What picture?" Oliver asked, he was looking at Tommy too, staring into those amazing blue eyes as he cupped his face, the rough pads of his thumbs rubbing his jaw.

"I had some printed up, of what you might look like, different hair-styles and all that. There's one that had you with longer hair and a beard." Tommy grinned softly. "The hair could use a trim, but I like the beard."

"You shouldn't have done that, Tommy." He whispered. "You need to forget about me."

"I could never forget you, Oliver. Stop being stupid. I've been in love with since I was fifteen-years-old. And I've already told you—the only way you're getting rid of me now, is if you kill me."

"Tommy," Oliver choked. He could see how clear his blue-eyes were, no sign of crazed heat haze. Oliver knew he was partly to blame, all his pheromones, the touching, the attention—it soothed the Omega, sated the raging hormones that were set to crave all things Alpha (but the prize, was the Knot). He gulped at the mere thought.

"Untie my hands, Ollie." Tommy murmured, but it was no less intense, or heated, almost like he could read the Alpha's mind.

Oliver hesitated for only a moment more. He pressed a kiss to Tommy's sweaty forehead, before he straightened and went around front of the man. He easily untied the restraints, and Tommy was free.

If this was the last time he saw Tommy... he wanted to have this one memory to go with all the others that felt like a life-time ago. And it wasn't just the Alpha part of him that lusted over the Omega in Heat. It wasn't until it was too late, until he was stuck on the Island, killing the Old Oliver to survive, as he stared at the photo every night, that he'd come to realize it. He'd been in denial, of how in love with his best-friend he was. Wasting his time with Alphas. Dragging Laurel down in his obliviousness. Getting Sara killed because he couldn't see. Tommy had had enough to bargain with already: Malcolm, his dynamic—he didn't need an irresponsible Alpha tangling things up worse.

As soon as his wrists were free, Tommy didn't wait a moment. He reached forward to Oliver squatting in front of him, digging his fingers into the long, slightly greasy, dirty blond locks of the Alpha, pulling him forward, and bringing him up onto his knees even as Tommy bent down—crashing their lips together. This time, it was down and dirty. Tongues, teeth, saliva, breath.

Oliver growled, shoving the Omega back, both breathless. He was on his feet in a fluid movement, reaching for him, and the next moment, Tommy's shirt was discarded.

There was a light tone and soft edges about Tommy that were so... innocent, and Oliver wanted to touch, trace, caress every one of them. He was so different from Slade and Shado, battle hardened Alphas swallowed by Lian Yu, just as he had almost been.

Oliver kissed his mouth again briefly before he started to kiss elsewhere, small swipes of his tongue across the little beads of sweat, tasting a simile of the Slick between his cheeks. He swore he was going to act out every fantasized touch before he let Tommy go again. He was going to steal as much of the Omega as he could, mark and keep as much as he could without physically stealing the man.

Oliver's beard scraped across his nipple, and his breath hitched lightly. It pebbled instantly in reaction and Oliver's chapped lips closed over it, his tongue swirling around the nub. Tommy sighed pleasantly as Oliver moved to the other, the rough pad of his thumb brushing over the sensitive peak of flesh before it, too, was enclosed in the moist warmth of his mouth.

Tommy's hands moved from the Alpha's long hair, caressing down that hard and defined muscles hidden beneath the thick material. Oliver was definitely wearing too much clothing. The only thing that Tommy could see of him was his hands, face, and hair. He wanted to _see_ all of him, touch every inch, feel the Alpha against him.

He grasped the back of Oliver's long-sleeve near the hem, and managed to pull it free from his belted cargo pants, before Oliver pulled away and stepped from him.

"No. Don't."

"Ollie?" Tommy fought back the foggy brain at the vulnerable tone in Oliver's voice.

"I'm not... the same." Oliver's eyes flickered away. "There are scars from... and after."

"I want to see you. All of you." Tommy whispered. "You're my best-friend, Ollie. It doesn't matter what you look like (though that was definitely a hot and steamy bonus), it's _you_ I want. Please."

Oliver licked his lips and finally met his eyes, his own bright blues sparking lightly. "When did you become such a romantic?" he slowly stood.

Tommy chuckled, watching him carefully. "Let's blame the hormones. Can't have my reputation ruined, now can I?"

The corner of Oliver's mouth twitched as he reached for the collar of his shirt at the nape of his neck and pulled his black long sleeve overhead, dropping it into the pile with Tommy's tee—and his torso was revealed in a mixture of clear light, and random, unexpected shards of long shadow from the lights.

Tommy sucked in a sharp breath. The scars he saw could only have been painfully gained and it hurt his heart to think how Oliver might have even got them. If it was from the Yacht going down, or something shady (like why exactly Oliver kidnapped him and tried to make him believe the Alpha was dead—for which they would get into later, after you know, the fucking and the Knotting).

Oliver was still, frozen almost, as Tommy rose from the chair. He took in every inch of his toned, scarred torso. Every dip, every cut, every curve. Every scar, every burn, the new ink. All of it. Absorbed it, mapped it out. His fist clenched in part anger at what had been done to his best-friend, and part to hold himself back. He wanted to _touch_ , but he hesitated. Obviously, for whatever reason, Oliver was concerned, so Tommy gave him the control, the next move.

Oliver might have expected disgust, pity—but he should have known his best-friend better. There was fear in Tommy's eyes as he looked at Oliver and saw the scars and burns, but it wasn’t _of_ him, it was _for_ him. His apprehension faded and he took Tommy's hand, placing it on his peck.

"You can touch me."

Tommy snorted. "Do you know how long I've waited for you to say that?"

Oliver laughed lightly and smiled. "As long as I've wanted to say it?"

And Tommy didn't waste the opportunity the Alpha afforded to him. All that he had mapped out with his gaze, he now traced with his fingers. And soon enough, he followed the same paths with his lips and tongue. Oliver shivered, shuddered, sighed under each different touch. The soft sounds the Alpha made, made the Omega's insides hum.

"God," Tommy groaned finally. "How are you always so hot all the time? I mean, fuck—look at you! You know, a lesser man would feel inadequate next to you. God's an ass for playing favourites."

"You can be cute sometimes, too, you know? When you want to be."

"Thanks." Tommy actually stuck his tongue at the Alpha, and with a spark of the old Oliver, he leaned forward and flicked it with his own. Tommy swallowed as he looked at Oliver. "You don't have to tell me."

Oliver's expression closed off a little. "It's probably better that you don't know."

And Tommy just threw his arms around him, chest to chest. "God, Oliver." Tommy just buried his face in the man's neck, breathing him in as he hugged him tightly. "I'm stuck between wanting you to fuck me or just holding you."

"Why not both?" he whispered.

"Fuck. Yes, that would be fantastic." Tommy pulled back and patted him on the chest. "See? Sometimes you can be the smart one in this relationship."

Oliver gave a low growl, and just the sound of it made Tommy shiver and wetter. "Pants off. Now." It was said with his Alpha voice, and the Omega jumped to comply. "Lean over the chair. Show me. I want to see you."

Tommy's body instantly complied. Completely naked, cock hard and weeping, hole leaking Slick, coating him. He grasped the chair's arms and bent forward, presenting himself to the strong Alpha. His body purred at the command, the Alpha's gruff voice ringing through his veins, his blood, his cock, his hole.

The old wooden chair was the only other piece of furniture besides the construction lamps in the abandoned room. It wasn't the best place to be having sex, but Tommy would take it. He was so hot, his Heat a licking pool of arousal in the pit of his stomach, leaching into his cock and leaking hole; that just needed to be touched, needed to be filled. He moaned quietly at the just the thought.

Oliver's hard calloused hand brushed against near every part of him that _wasn't_ leaking and eager. His touches so feather light that Tommy at times was hard-pressed to tell if it was just the air, his breath, or his fingers. He was panting, wanting, biting back the whine as Oliver just seemed to brush him with touches but nothing else. The Omega was growing quickly restless of the cat and mouse game.

"I didn’t realize you were such a tease, no wonder half those women were so pissed with you." Tommy snarked impatiently. And then whined, "Just fuck me already." He didn't care how needy he sounded.

"I’m not going to fuck you." Oliver whispered huskily, almost meanly in his ear as he pressed against the Omega from behind him, an arm around his stomach, tracing the faded appendectomy scar on his right side that Tommy got when they were 17 and had one of their legendary, drunken, illegal nights that included breaking into the Starling Zoo and the Omega getting kicked by an irritated Zebra that didn’t think it was as fun as Oliver did to be ridden by the Alpha. The other traced the crease of his thigh, so tantalizingly close, yet so far away. "Not you, Tommy. You deserve better than that."

Tommy mewled a protest. "But I want you."

"I’m not going to fuck you, Tommy." He repeated, and continued before the Omega could protest again, "I’m going to make love to you. I’m going to show you how much I’ve loved you all these years and was just too stupid to face up to it. I’m going to prove to you how wrong your father is." Finally, Oliver grasping his weeping cock and Tommy gasped as he pumped his fist slowly. Oliver’s gravely voice washed over him, in accompany of the sensations of his rough calloused palm on his dick like he’d always fantasized. "There’s nothing wrong with who you are, Tommy—what you are. Heats aren’t as bad a thing Malcolm makes them out to be. With someone you trust, the right Alpha. You deserve that, Tommy. You deserve so much more than I can give you…"

Tommy gulped and hung his head in guilt. The last time he was off his Suppressants with Laurel, he was a slut monster just like Malcolm always predicted. That week with Laurel, had been one of the lowest points in his life and here Oliver was… "Oliver, I—"

"Shh. It’s okay." Oliver squeezed the base of his cock in reassurance. "I've got you." Oliver kissed the nape of his neck, and released his cock. His hands brushed Tommy's hips downward as he got onto his knees behind the Omega, spreading his perky cheeks. Tommy's hole was shinning with Slick and the Alpha thought it beautiful. It smelled distinctly Tommy, male, fucking perfect—and he buried his face in it eagerly.

"Holy, fuck!" Tommy cursed, sucking in a breath that quickly turned into mewling and whimpering sounds at the only rim job he'd ever received. That was just a place that women didn't go, especially Betas thinking him a Beta—when his hole was a very pin-point area for an Omega. And the guys that he sometimes slept with, could never touch quite as deep as an Alpha's Knot could. For which Tommy actually had little experience with, and only once so far during Heat. For all that Tommy's had sex with, he had very little experience. The scrape and prick of Oliver's beard should have been an irritation, but it had quite the opposite affect.

Oliver levelled him out like Laurel never could. He still honestly didn’t know how they survived that week. How they didn’t tear each others throats out in their Heat/Rut haze. Like that episode of _Supernatural_ where Cupid’s arrows went wrong, and peoples infatuation with each other turned into bodily consumption. But with Oliver, though he could feel the hot lick of his Heat, he didn’t go blind with the Knot-craving. But that didn't mean he didn't fucking want it—bad.

Tommy made a sound in the back of his throat as he clenched around Oliver's tongue, fighting off his first orgasm, and the Alpha's little growl vibrated up his walls and into his hot core. His shaky knees locked and he let out a whimper. Oliver chuckled, kissing each cheek before he rose to his feet. He traced Tommy's pucker with a thick finger, before breaching the ring.

Tommy bucked back against him desperately. Oliver wiggled his finger, pushing it in and out of the Slicked entrance, before he added a second. He scissor and twisted, plunging in and out at a fast pace. Tommy loved the feel of Oliver's hard calloused fingers against his sensitive walls, stroking the pulsing, slick flesh. If this was what the Alpha's fingers felt like, Tommy could hardly imagine the feel of his Knot. Oliver scraped a blunt nail over his prostate—

"Fuck, I'm going to cum right now but don't let that stop you!" Tommy gasped out in a single breath, to be choked off with a grunt as his ring clenched around Oliver's fingers. His knees shook as he came onto the seat of the chair in front of his, his fingers on the arms clenching as Oliver stroked his hip.

The Alpha felt the orgasm rip through the Omega's body, pressed against behind him. "Are you—"

"Don't make me beg!" Tommy growled, and then he shivered at the whisper of Oliver's zipper a moment later.

Oliver stroked himself, looking at the beautiful state of his best-friend in life. Not that he could get any harder than he already was. He hugged the Omega from behind, a palm pressed flat against his abdomen under his belly button as the other lined up his aching cock. Oliver pushed slowly into the Slick heat with gritted teeth. The Alpha groaned at the sensation, as the Omega sighed at the base-deep fill, of Oliver finally sheathed inside of him. Tommy easily stretched around his large, leaking appendage, hugging it tight.

Oliver's first few thrusts were rocky, but he quickly fell into a pace behind the bent over Omega. The heat of Tommy never left his cock, even as he pulled out until but his head, the appendage quickly coated in the Slick.

The libido in an Omega in Heat was aspiring. He was already hard again, aching, the heat pooling in his stomach as he felt the gorgeous slid and slam of Oliver's cock. Oliver hugged him from behind, the arm around him steadying, as the other hand came and gripped his hand on the chair arm. Oliver's grunts and hot breath at the back of his neck, coincided with his own moans and gasps.

Next time Tommy came, Oliver wanted to see his face. As great as "doggy-style" could be, he didn't want to Knot Tommy like this. His pace slowed. "Fuck, where's a mattress when you need one?" Oliver muttered. If he knew that this was going to happen, he might have just kidnapped and held Tommy in his own hotel room.

"This chair with have to do." And with a speed that even surprised the Alpha, Tommy had him shoved back into the chair. Oliver grimaced at the slimy feel of Tommy's come against his ass cheeks and back of his thighs, squishing.

"Then return the favour!" Tommy read his expression. Somehow, in the tight confines of the armed chair, the Omega straddled him, and it wasn't unbearably uncomfortable. Oliver gripped his waist, as Tommy had a grip on one of his shoulders, the other his cock and lowered his eager, dripping hole, onto the waiting, wet cock. The feel of his slightly inflated base made the dark-haired brunette bite his lip.

He immediately started to move. The head of his hard, leaking cock rubbed against Oliver's ripped abs as he thrusted his hips. Abs that would have made him jealous if the Alpha wasn't so fucking hot and so fucking his.

Oliver’s fingers dug into the man’s undulating hips, never looking away. Taking in the flushed cheeks, the beads of sweat, the five o’clock shadow, bangs plastered to his forehead, his blue eyes both darkened with lust, and lightened at seeing Oliver. Like a heavy weight was off his shoulders and heart, and it wasn’t just the Heat or the sex. He reached up and cupped the Omega’s cheek, his thumb tracing his plump bottom lip.

Tommy’s tongue snuck out and flicked across the head of the digit; he could taste his Slick. His fingers tangled in the sweaty hair at the nape of the Alpha’s neck, the other griping his budging bicep. Oliver groaned. He wasn’t a complacent participant either. When Tommy was least expecting it, the Alpha’s hips would snap upward, meeting him, the head of his cock stroking across his prostate. Tommy cried out, his fingers tightening briefly in Oliver’s hair.

Oliver knew he was close, he could feel his balls tightening, feel his heartbeat climb down his chest and towards his pulsing Knot. One hand wrapped around to the small of the Omega’s back, the other still grasping his hip, and he didn’t wait for the best moment, but inside almost went into a frenzy of thrusts as Tommy rode him like a bucking bronco.

"Mm!" Tommy bit his lip at the Oliver’s Knot starting to catch on his rim, it was a feeling that could never be simulated just right, no matter how many specialized toys were out there.

"Tommy!" Oliver grunted.

"Ollie!"

The feel of the full blown Knot locking inside his hole tight, was what had him shooting his load for the second time that night, spattering both their stomachs a moment before Oliver's own release. The hot sensation of Oliver's seed spread like a blanket of warmth from the inside and out. Had the Omega purring in delight at the feeling of pulsing fullness. Every single part of him was touched and coated.

Oliver balmed that keening Omega need inside of him. The intoxication of the feeling of his Knot, the safety of being held in his strong arms; protected, wanted, loved. While Laurel had just incited and fed that insatiable lust; to rip, tear, consume, and leave nothing behind of either of them. Feeding the fire until they just burnt out. Oliver filled his tunnel and it was like a cold drink on a hot summer’s day. He sighed with it and his insides purred and drank thirstily at the Alpha's seed.

Tommy's eyes felt heavy as he slumped against Oliver's sweaty chest, face buried in the crook of his neck, attempting to fight the pull of a mated sleep, falling asleep on the Alpha's Knot. It was a hard fight, with the way Oliver was treating him.

Oliver panted into his hair, one arm wrapped around his sweat-slicked back, the other petting the back of his damp hair. Their hearts beat frantically besides each other, as they were coaxed through minute jolts of pleasure still ripping from each other. Tommy's hips gently rocking against Oliver's still pulsing cock.

Tommy made a light keening sound against the side of Oliver's throat. Oliver blew his mind… through his asshole. Fuck, no wonder half the Alphas Oliver had slept with, became obsessed with him.

He was dying for a post Knot nap, or current Knot nap. Sometimes sex (especially in Heat) could be splendidly exhausting—and who didn't/wouldn't want to cuddle up post sex? That was something that the Omega always craved, but what his one-night stands never afforded him.

But he fought the urge and instinct to rest, (sometimes he wondered what the difference was—was Malcolm trying to bury the Omega in him or the Tommy?) this was not just some normal mating, other than being best-friends in life since childhood.

"This should be awkward," Tommy mumbled against Oliver's prickly neck, sucking a little mark in the curve of his shoulder to neck. He breathed in the post sex musk of the Alpha, the homey black-peppered honey, not conscious of actually speaking out loud until Oliver responded.

"When has that ever stopped us?" his voice rumbled lightly through his chest as his fingers brushed up and down through the beads of sweat along Tommy's spine.

Tommy rose his head, happy for the distraction to help fight the pull of sleep. "Are you remembering those twins from college?" Oliver's bearded lips twitched. "I'd never slept with an Omega before that, let alone two." His fingers petted the outline of the hollow at the Alpha's clavicle. "A lot of Slick and not enough Knots. I honestly don't see the appeal."

"You're the appeal, Tommy." And, a hand trailing up his back to cup the nape of his neck, pulled him forward into a kiss. "Your Heat's less intense than I expected," Oliver said suddenly when they parted. "More controlled than I've seen before."

"I know. It's completely different than the last time." Tommy said thoughtfully. "It feels like background noise with you. I think you were right about a Heat being better with the right Alpha."

Oliver stared at him. "You've been off your Suppressants before?"

"Umm..." Tommy shifted his shoulders uncomfortable and embarrassed, shamed, too.

"Tommy," Oliver repeated firmly. "When did you go off your Suppressants? Why?"

Tommy took a deep breath and closed his eyes briefly. He knew that he was going to have to tell Oliver about Laurel eventually, but to have to do it while Knot-deep? "It was a couple years back... when we got news in Starling that _The Queen's Gambit_ went down in the storm and there was no recovered survivors. None of us handled it well, as I'm sure you can assume.

"I was drinking, doing drugs, losing control—and I went off my Suppressants. I wanted to get lost, Ollie. I wanted to forget. To feel something other than the crushing grief."

"Oh, Tommy." Oliver murmured, rubbing his palms up and down the back of his ribs soothingly where the Omega's shoulders were slightly hunched.

"To say my first Heat since I was eleven was intense, is fucking laughable." He was a bit bitter. "It lasted a week."

"A week?!" Holy shit. He'd heard of female Omegas going into Heat for that long, but never males. Either Tommy was fertile enough to populate a village of his own (and that did things to his natural Alpha instinct to reproduce), or the Suppressants that Malcolm forced onto Tommy while he was still going through his first Heat, screwed with the natural progression of his dynamic (which awoke another part of his Alpha instinct to protect and punish).

Tommy nodded, playing with the ends of Oliver's hair and avoided looking him in the eyes. "That Alpha I was with..." he couldn't seem to say her name, "I'm surprised we made it out of that apartment alive—let alone still have a semi-civil relationship now."

Oliver bit back the possessive growl at the mention of another Alpha with his Omega in Heat. "Who... was it?" he managed to ask gruffly, his hands slowing down.

"Oliver," Tommy grimaced, but it wasn't a reaction to physical discomfort, it was emotional. Oliver tightened his hold on the Omega. "I'm so sorry, Oliver. It—"

"It was Laurel." Oliver's hands stilled. "Wasn't it?"

Tommy nodded, his lips pressed tight and his expression filled with shame. He still couldn't look the Alpha in the eye. Still Knotted with Oliver, there was nowhere to run. He leaned back instead, attempting to put distance between them—but Oliver refused to let him go.

"I'm not mad, Tommy." Oliver whispered. "I don't blame you _or_ Laurel for how you responded to the news of what happened to _the Gambit_. Trust me," he gave a tight, self-deprecating smile. "I don't have a leg to stand on. The yacht, it just, it was like it split in half..." he swallowed, "And I was helpless to do nothing but watch as Sara was dragged out in the undercurrent of water that filled the cabin, sucked out to sea. Watched as my dad..." he stopped, inhaling sharply through his nose as he made a strangled sound of grief in the back of his throat. Unable to still say the words out loud, least of all to Tommy, his eyes squeezed shut.

Not knowing quite what to say just yet, Tommy pushed his fingers into the thick blond hair at the back of his head, clenching his fingers in a reassuring pressure, and leaned his forehead against the Alpha's.

"I'm so sorry that you had to see that happen, that you had to go through that." His voice broke a little. And he whispered like it was a dark secret, "But I'm glad that you're alive, Ollie."

"Me, too." Oliver admitted after a minute, soaking in Tommy's presence, before he opened his eyes again, looking into Tommy's reflected blues. His hand moved up Tommy's back and cupped the sweaty nape of his neck, pushing his head forward the short distance remaining between their lips.

Tommy moaned into his mouth, gently rocking his hips against Oliver's Knot still locked pleasantly inside of him, causing the Alpha to grunt against his tongue. Warmth pooled hotly again in the Omega's stomach at the sensation, his cock twitching towards life between their bellies for the third time.

"How long does your Knot usually last?" Tommy panted when he broke the kiss.

"An hour and a half, sometimes two." Oliver told him. "Depending on the Omega, I guess. Do you think your Heat will last a week like last time?" He couldn't help but be curious about this part of his best-friend that he didn't know, while at the same time, the soldier the Island created in him was digging for information that he needed to correct the situation that he had fucked himself into.

Even though Oliver knew that it would be the best week in the last three-years, even just this was a top amongst his entire life—not just the hot sex, but also being with Tommy again—he knew that Amanda Waller would be missing him soon. And Maseo could only distract and feed her lies on the situation to the other Beta for so long before he had to admit the truth or let his family face the consequences of Oliver's dilemma. For which Oliver's plan to protect Tommy and keep him alive had almost immediately gone out the window. If Oliver didn't make this disappear, she would kill Tommy and Oliver would face the repercussions of his action (beatings, torture, etc. to get her point of power and control across).

He was going to have to somehow convince Tommy to leave Hong Kong—willingly, without himself, with the full knowledge that he was alive, held prisoner himself—and tell no one of his existence. And all of it, made all the harder because of the mating and admitted life-long feelings for each other.

"I don't think so." Tommy said after a moment of contemplation. "It's different than with Laurel. With her... there wasn't a coherent thought in me. It was just a blind haze of fucking and Knotting and cuming—" he stopped and gave his head a little shake before he focused back on the blond with his raised brow and dark eyes. "But with you... it's like the flame of the candles on the cake."

Oliver didn't want to have to contemplate the consequences of what that statement might mean. So he chuckled instead, "Does that make me the cake?"

Tommy licked his lips, sultry. "And your come, the icing."

Oliver let out a growl and dove for his lips, wet and hot, before moving to his throat. Tommy felt Oliver's kiss, the press of his lips and tongue, before he felt the light scrape of teeth. He mewled at the feeling, arching up into the Alpha's mouth, hip thrusting as he cock grew hard with just the simple thought of Oliver biting him. It was an ache inside him that he felt since he was a teenager, whenever he saw Oliver with another Alpha, since he was old enough to understand what that urge inside of him was that Malcolm tried to burn out of him with chemicals. But just as you can take Tarzan out of the Forest, you can't take the Forest out of Tarzan.

But Oliver sighed and pulled away from his throat. "I can't, Tommy. We can't."

Tommy sat back in his lap. "Why? I don't understand, Oliver." He shook his head. "Any of it."

Oliver's eyes flickered away and he got a blank distant look in his eyes. It was a look that Tommy sometimes caught on his father unawares when he was younger after he returned two-years after Rebecca's death. He shivered.

"Oliver, what the hell is this?" he demanded.

Oliver focused back on him. "Tommy, I..."

"No. You've been presumed dead for three-years. But you're alive. Why haven't you come back to Starling City? I know it was you who logged into your e-mail—you _wanted_ somebody to come, to find you. So I don't understand why you kidnapped me and tried to scare me away. Oliver, just talk to me, please. It's me. It's _me._ " He grabbed his bearded face.

Oliver sighed with weight and leaned his forehead against Tommy's. "It's too dangerous, Tommy."

"I don't care about that!" he didn't know what danger could warrant this reaction, but he didn't care.

"Well, I do!" Oliver snapped sharply, jerking back against the back of his chair in the snarl of anger. Tommy was still in his lap, his hands still position in the air now between them, sans his face. He took a deep, calming breath, breathing in Tommy's scent and allowing it to balm his anger and fear. "Before that _the Queen's Gambit_ sunk in that storm... dad and I managed to get to the life raft. We drifted for days, before he suddenly tells me that there wasn't enough food and water for the both of us to survive. There was only chance for one of us to make it—that _I_ had to survive. He said he failed the city and I had to right his wrongs. He killed himself right in front of me, Tommy!" he cried.

"God, Oliver!" Tommy didn't know what else he could do, but hold the Alpha as he cried into his neck, carding his finger soothingly through his long locks, as Oliver gripped him tightly back.

A few minutes later, Oliver managed to real that grief back that always managed to be so fresh, even after three-years, and pulled slightly away from the Omega.

"It was a few days after—dehydrated, starving... dying—that the raft washed up on the shore of an island. I was there for two-years, Tommy. That place... changed me—and I wasn't alone."

"Is that," Tommy hesitated, "Is that how you got these?" his palm hovered over the burn scar on his left peck.

Oliver put his hand over Tommy's, and pressed the palm against the marred flesh. He nodded. "The were privately contracted soldiers. They didn't very much like uninvited guests. There were three people there against their will, too. They helped me survive, they taught me to fight. They didn't make it off the Island."

"But you did." Tommy whispered. "Why haven't you come home, Oliver? Why... are you here?"

"I still don't know exactly how I ended up in Hong Kong," Oliver admitted. He remembered the _Amazo_ going down in flames around him, Sara going overboard, killing Slade—and then waking up in Hong Kong to Amanda Waller. The less Tommy knew, the safer he would be, but at the same time, Oliver had no other choice but to give him _something_ to convince him that it was best to leave. And so, in the vaguest of terms, he told Tommy about Amanda Waller. "I've tried to get away before. That e-mail wasn't the first attempt. I can't do it on my own."

"Oh, my God, Oliver. We have to get you out of here!" in his fear and haste, Tommy completely forgot their current situation, that Oliver was still completely Knotted in him. "Aah!" Tommy chocked on the cry of pain. They were literally tied together right now, and tearing that knot would have consequence for them both.

Oliver winced as well, but he was fast, and quickly pulled the Omega back safely into his lap before he could do too much damage to either of them. He rubbed soothing circles into the small of his back and his trembling thighs around him own. "I can't leave, Tommy."

"What are you talking about? Of course you can!" Tommy protested. He gripped the man's muscled shoulders tightly, his dull nails digging into the hard flesh. "You're a person. They can't just keep you like a pet and coerce you into doing their bidding. We have to leave, Oliver. Tell the police—something!"

"That e-mail was the second strike, one more, and I'm not the only one who pays the price." Oliver told him solemnly. "And even if I could get to the police—and they actually believed me—they wouldn't stand a chance against them. And then they would kill the both of us to finish off any loose ends."

"Who are _these people_? The C.I.A.?"

Oliver snorted crudely. "The C.I.A. is a cute, fluffy kitten compared to these guys."

"I'm not just going to leave, Oliver." And the grip on his shoulders tightened for an entirely different reason. "I've already told you."

"Yes. You can and you will." He said fiercely. "They know you're here, Tommy—looking for me. That e-mail I tried to send," he shook his head in fury at himself for the folly, "That was a mistake. She thinks it's an asset that they think I'm dead and can use me as a weapon. She tried to have you assassinated, but I convinced Maseo that there was a better way to make you disappear and never look for Oliver Queen again. Would think that I'm dead like everyone else. But I was stupid to think I could trick you."

Tommy snorted derisively. "I'm smarter than I look—especially when it comes to you. I know you, Ollie."

"That Oliver is gone, Tommy." Oliver gritted his teeth. "The Oliver you knew no longer exists, he died on that Island so that _I_ could survive. There's nothing left for you here!" he growled harshly.

"Oliver," Tommy growled right back, grabbing his face. "Don't talk like that. Whatever you are—then, now—to me, that is who you were always supposed to be." Oliver suddenly deflated. "Ollie," his voice was weaker this time. "We can find a way. We can—"

Oliver silenced him with a brush of his lips. He could feel it, like an exhaustion finally catching up to him, a strained muscle finally giving way. "There isn't. I know that this is confusing and it hurts—but one day, I _will_ come back home to Starling City. To you. _Soon_. I love you, Tommy. Don't forget that, but you have to forget _me_ —that you found me alive."

Tears flooded the Omega's eyes. "I can't just leave you, Ollie. I won't. I lost you once, I can't lose you again. There has to be a way!"

Oliver brushed the tears leaking down his cheeks with rough padded thumbs. He peppered his devastated best-friend's face with kisses, distracting him, comforting him. His Knot unlocked and started to recede into the base of his cock like a exhale of breath. Oliver sighed, hollow as he shifted beneath the weight of the man and slipped from his hole. Tommy whimpered at the feeling of soreness and the loss, chocking back the sob that clawed at his chest.

He clenched his cheeks fiercely and with concentration, trying to prevent as much of Oliver from leaving his open hole as he could, trying to keep as much of the Alpha as he might. He didn't want the full feeling to leave him empty.

Oliver gave him a slow kiss—a last kiss—caressing his cheek before he pulled back and pressed their foreheads together.

"Goodbye, Tommy." He whispered.

"Oliver—" Tommy couldn't just give up, give in.

He Scented the Beta behind him too late as Oliver wrapped his arms around him, pinning his arms to his sides as the unfamiliar hand pressed the stinking rag over his mouth and nose.

His Omega keen was muffled by the chloroformed rag and soon, the bright construction lights, and Oliver's face, eyes bright, they faded as the darkness crept into his eyes. Oliver was going to leave him again and he was too weak to keep a hold of him.

Maseo pulled away as Oliver hugged the unconscious Omega to his chest.

"I'm sorry, Oliver." The Beta said.

"Not as much as I am." His voice was a steely as his heart was broken.

Maseo just nodded and turned his back. He knew better than to try and help, to touch the Omega more than was necessary. But he didn't leave the room.

Oliver stood on slightly shaky legs, Tommy heavy and pliant in his arms. He turned, and put the Omega in the chair. He dressed the Omega like a doll, shoving his scarf quickly into his pants pocket before dressing himself. He caressed Tommy's cheek, pressing a kiss to his brow.

"Waller's going to pay for thinking she could make me kill him—have him killed." Oliver growled threateningly.

"Soon." Maseo agreed softly, thinking of his own wife and son. "But you're not ready yet."

Oliver gritted his teeth and said nothing as he took Tommy into his arms once more, because he knew it was true. But in the mean time, Amanda Waller was going to make the weapon that would help destroy her.

[tbc]

**aRRoW**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck, this chapter! I so know I was probably everywhere with it. I think I was good to start with, but then came the slash/smut and I think I drowned it in angst/fluff/feelings and I feel like I might have lost the characters in the tears and cum.  
> Next chapter, I plan to write Felicity. Cross your fingers with me, because I'm very trepidatious [not sure if this is a word] about writing her for the first time and in an AU setting to boot, so I think I need all the luck I can get. I can picture it all clearly in my head, but I know I'm going to have trouble typing it out right. That tends to happen.
> 
> P.S: So, here are some deleted bits for this chapter. Whatever, I'm posting them here; it's the only way they'll see the light of day:  
> *  
> "This should probably be awkward as fuck,"  
> "When has that ever stopped us?"  
> "Oh, God." He laughed. "Remember Ashley Romanesco?"  
> Oliver paused as he tried to think back. "Was she the one that kept trying spike your drink?"  
> "No." He snorted. "Don't you remember that rave that McKenna dragged us too? He was the that creapy T.A. that tried to feel you up in the bathroom,"  
> x~   
> He could feel the Alpha’s Knot deflating as it was finished emptying semen into his cavity and simple acted as a cork. He knew that as soon as he could pull free safely, Oliver would be gone. Tommy was definitely not ready for that moment.   
> * :)


	4. Under No Illusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity worries and Tommy decides.~

**aRRoW**

Felicity supported Tommy. But tracing that e-mail, she'd been wary and almost didn't want to tell the Suppressed Omega. It just seemed too fishy. Why would Oliver be in Hong Kong in the first place? Why hadn't he come home? Why was he only able to log-in and not finish an e-mail?

But she had told him because he was her friend, something they'd become in the last two-years since he'd contacted her on Craig's List (still not as bad as it sounded). She was getting a steady pay check with a pretty good number typed in ink, but had her own laundry list of reasons to pimp out her hacking skillz for cash (i.e. keep her sets fresh, momma deserved a little pocket company, and to help people like Tommy). He was the first "client" that she'd made friends with, and she was still trying to give him back the check that he'd paid her for the first "session."

She didn't know Oliver, and she'd hardly knew Tommy but for what she'd read in the paper, in blogs, and seen on the news; but it didn't take her long to figure out that Tommy was in love with his best-friend. She'd found that out easier than she didn't even discover that he was actually an Omega and not a Beta that he presented as for public consumption and his father's will; until he'd told her that himself about a year ago.

As soon as Tommy heard about the e-mail and its trace to Hong Kong, he was already headed for her apartment door before she had to almost tackle him to the ground to get him to stop and listen and not just run off. It was clear that nothing short of physical restraint was going to prevent him from following their very first lead since they'd started in on this endeavour, so she offered (bordered on insisted) that she accompany him. He shot her down like a duck hunter. And insisted that this was something that he had to do himself and all that other jazz along the same lines.

Felicity'd sighed and reluctantly agreed. Besides, she was still too new working in the IT Department at Queen Consolidated to be cashing in however many vacation days that this trip to Hong Kong might take. And it wasn't like she had a trust fund just hidden away in the back of her closet, like a certain billionaire Omega.

The conversation with him before his departure to board the Merlyn Private Jet, went a little something like this:

"Daily e-mails." She insisted on the least. "Progress updates." He mocked writing her demands down. She glared. "Just take a minute to reassure this worry-wart Beta that you haven't been kidnapped for that trusty trust fund of yours—or haven’t been taken in the night on some shady street for some human-trafficking ring. Okay? Those things are real and show you just how depraved the human-race can be... and they just plain suck!"

"Alright. Alright." He held up his hands in placation, that was soon tarnished by his following snark: "Ms. Drama My-middle-name-isn't-really-Meghan-I-just changed-it-because-I-didn't-want-people-to know-how-crazy-I-really-am-how-do-you-think-I-got-a-billionaire-playboy-to-be-my-friend Queen—I think getting kidnapped isn't likely to happen."

"Tommy—" she sighed long suffering, pushing her glassed up her nose with a pointed finger as she stared at him, "You're going half-way across the world in search of your presumed dead best-friend of the past three-years, via a trace from a shady e-mail log-in three-years later, via on your C.E.O. father's Private Jet with your rich name printed rather largely in fantastic loopy letters on the side of said plane. Alone. I think kidnapping is very high chance in the cards." She gasped for breath.

"Wow." He blinked at his blond friend in amazement for a moment (because he'd never met anyone before who could to that), then said blandly, "I spoke too soon with that middle-name-thy-name-is-crazy thing, didn't I?" he waved his index finger in a gentle circle. "Should have just waited a minute."

"Don't make me bite you, Merlyn!" she growled, half-joking and half-serious and he knew it. "I will go Momma Beta on your ass if you make me!" she exhaled and her expression grew sombre. "Just be careful." She tugged him into a fierce hug.

"Don't worry," he whispered seriously into her ear. "Everything will work out as it's supposed to." He kissed her temple, she his cheek, and they pulled from each other. She watched him board, the door close, and only left the airport as she finally saw the jet turning onto the runway for take-off. ~

So, yes. When she hadn't heard from him for almost 50 hours, she was officially freaking out. She typed out a very demanding, frantic, and angry e-mail and hit the send button with more force than her precious baby deserved. As soon as the incommunicado hit the actual 50 hours, Hong Kong better hold onto their tradition Chinese garments because they would be facing head-on with a Felicity "Momma Beta" Smoak barrage!

And a couple hours later, when she was at the screw-the-dead-line defiance of her own set rule, her laptop alerted her to a new e-mail. It was short, pretty vague, and didn't satisfy her worry over the Omega—it probably increased it.

She was angry at herself for not knowing about the bane on a certain ingredient in Tommy's prescribed Suppressants, that had them getting confiscated at customs in Hong Kong. And sending him into his record Third Heat in a foreign country, leaving him alone and vulnerable—and all the more likely to have gotten kidnapped.

She checked his booked ticket for the return flight on the Commercial Flight.

She expected nothing less from Malcolm Merlyn and she'd never even met the man, she thought Tommy assumed the same. She rolled her eyes at the First Class ticket, but gave a relieved smile.

Oh, but was she going to bust his nut for worrying her. But she sighed. She knew he wasn't returning simply because of a unpredicted Heat that already passed. If he was coming home this early, it was because he discovered the long-past truth of the last three-years…

Oliver Queen was dead.　

**aRRoW**

Tommy woke up tucked in his Hotel bed with the same suddenly cut off event, dry mouth and chemical taste. He knew it wasn’t a dream, a hopeful hallucination due to bad blowfish. He remembered it perfectly well, just like when he woke up the first time. He rolled over and groaned. He felt groggy and exhausted and thirsty and hungry and sore... and sad, empty, incomplete.

He saw the tray of food sitting on the bedside table, the mug still steaming. He blinked at it for a moment before he reached out for a piece of toast that was on the plate. He was fucking starving, and that first piece, he folded it into his mouth like a some creature. The second piece, still warm, he ate slower this time and could actually taste the warm honey slathered on it. He groaned pleasantly at the taste, taking a sip of what turned out to be tea from the mug. He was always partial to honey. He drank half the bottle of water there as well, wetting his parched throat.

He looked at the ticking clock on the table next to the empty tray, but the numbers meant nothing to him at the moment. How long had he been laying there, out? How long ago had Oliver truly gone when the tea and toast were still warm?

He lay back, eyes half lidded as he blinked slowly and heavily at the sun that reflected off the leaves outside on the terrace and played across the roof as they danced in the light Hong Kong breeze, encased in Oliver's strong scent.

He could feel it, like on the edge of his brain and body, that whisper of lust in his veins, of unaccounted for arousal, like teasing fingers petting his walls. It made him want to grab his dick and jerk himself off roughly, but at the same time just lay there and bask in it, with the phantom feels of Oliver's calloused hands and chapped lips.

It was with this buzz, that he drifted back into sleep.

He remembered after Laurel, how he just _slept_. For almost three days, as Omegas were want to do after experiencing a Heat like that, or any Heat at all. Usually, they'd curl up with their Alpha, who was there solely to take care of them. But both times, Tommy slept alone. But unlike last time—he didn't quite feel like he was suffering in aloneness. Yes, Oliver was God knew where and Tommy was worried and wanted to run to the police, but he trusted the Alpha and there was just something on an Omega-level that kept him calm.

The next time he woke up, he had enough energy this time to get out of the bed. He relieved himself, and put a call into room service because he was still starving. And he sat at the kitchen island for a moment, the gears in his head slowly turning.

He wanted to rage around the city, screaming for Oliver, for the Alpha that promised they would be together. Soon. But then he remembered the danger that Oliver said they were both in now. That he was being used as a bargaining chip to prevent Oliver from making his move. That Tommy had to leave now, so they could be together again later, out of danger.

It was different, hearing these thoughts again, while not in the brain haze of Heat, where all that truly mattered in that moment, was the carnal desire, the cellular need, for an Alpha’s Knot. He processed the real danger of what Oliver had spoken to him.

He sighed and went back into the bathroom, turning on the tap for the large bath. By the time he set the towels out and a robe, room service came. He got his food, a nice brunch of eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast, coffee and orange juice, but instead of going back to the kitchen island to eat, he went back into the bathroom.

He striped and sunk down into the hot water with a low groan. He managed to not get his food wet as he soaked and ate. He washed before the water could get cold, and wrapped himself in the nice fluffy robe. As much as he missed the smell of Oliver on every inch of his body, he felt all the better clear headed and refreshed for being clean of sweat and grime and come and Slick.

He climbed back into bed. He would do as Oliver asked, tomorrow. But right now, he needed to sleep. And he did, straight through the rest of the afternoon and night, waking naturally in the morning of the next day.

He had another shower and ordered breakfast before he went to get dressed. But he stopped short as they bureau stood empty. He grabbed his suitcase and could feel the weight of it as he tossed it on the bed. He unzipped it and discovered all his belonging packed. Oliver must have done it, as if to say _hint hint_.

But that wasn't all. He could smell the homey honey and black pepper as if Oliver was standing right behind him. Heart thumping in his chest, Tommy spun around, but he was alone in the room—and the strength of the Alpha's scent was fainter. He turned back to his suitcase with a furrowed brow, searching it—and paused as he discovered something folded in the inside lid pocket. He pulled it out and the scent became stronger. It was Oliver's scarf. He petted it with his fingers.

"Jesus, Ollie!" Tommy whispered and pushed the scarf against his face and inhaled. He could smell the sweat and the damp, but he could also smell Oliver. He choked back the sudden sob and squeezed his eyes closed as he kept the scarf pressed to his face. He had nothing to cry for. Oliver was alive, and that was all that mattered. As long as he was alive, Tommy could deal with it. He folded it again and put it back in his suitcase, taking out some clean clothes, putting his dirty ones in, before he closed it again.

He ate his cold breakfast at the kitchen island. Poured himself a shot of booze from the clay bottle he'd found in the generous bar, and he powered up his laptop. First thing he discovered and should have expected, was that the Merlyn Private Jet was no longer at his disposal. Malcolm never did take getting disobeyed (or slighted) even as marginally as getting hung up on, lightly. There was always some form of repercussion, as small as Tommy now having to take a Commercial Flight or as big as being forced to drain their pool by hand when he decided it would be fun to fill it with beer and go for swim. He simply rolled his eyes and booked a ticked to Starling on the internet with his credit card.

He saw the stacked-up e-mails that had gone unanswered from Felicity, each more frantic than the next. He remembered his promise to e-mail every day so she wouldn’t worry and felt guilty. He read the latest one, that simply said if he didn't reply back by the time she was finished writing that very e-mail... well, let's just say that Felicity could be very frightening through e-mail.

He typed up a reply. It wasn’t really constructed on lies, built upon a base of truth, because he only gave her a few sentences for his absence: _The last few days have been crazy. Dealing with my third Heat in life in a foreign country was not a fantastic start to this trip. I've booked my return flight on a Commercial Line, my asshole father stole my ride. I'll see you soon._ And he shut down him computer before her lightning fast fingers could type up a reply.

He knew that if anyone else ever found out about this trip and why (Malcolm knew obviously about Hong Kong, but not why), he would tell them exactly what Oliver wanted. He was dead. But Felicity knew. What was he supposed to tell the smart Beta who was very intuitive when it came to him about Oliver? Would it be too dangerous to tell her to truth?

He lounged on the couch, eating this weird candy from the mini bar, the television on some show in Chinese as he waited for the car that he'd arranged to arrive and pick him up to take him in a few hours for his flight back to Starling. He legs were crossed at the ankle on the couch arm, an arm bent behind his head, and his fingers tapping rhythmically on his chest over the purple hickey, over his heart amid his dark chest hair and covered by his shirt that Oliver had given him.

In about a week, it would be gone, faded from existence, the only physical proof of his encounter with Oliver. He remembered the feel of Oliver's mouth, his tongue, the rough, enticing scrape of his scruff against sensitive, heated flesh. He inhaled deeply, Scent-memory flooded with the Alpha's smell, the sweet musk enticing a little gasp from the Omega.

His dick twitched, but he didn't get hard.

He remembered the times when they joined the tennis team together or just fooled around wrestling (he'd like to say when they were little kids, but to be honest, they did it a week before _the Queen's Gambit_ was lost at sea), where the Alpha's pheromones would just sing against his senses, and even with the Suppressants controlling his hormones, sometimes it took an effort not go pliant on his back, bare his neck, spread his legs and mewl for the strong Alpha pinning him. Exactly what his father tried to beat and drug out of him, those pesky Omega natures.

Guess he couldn't feel a guilty sort of shame about that anymore, not when he knew now Oliver felt the same. He sighed at all the lost moments they had, but Tommy decided, with his arousal like static across his skin at their few hours together, that when Oliver came home again, they had a lot to make up for and he wasn't going to waste a minute of it.

He got the call from the front desk alerting him to his driver's imminent arrival. He was going home. He had the flight to decide what he was going to tell the Beta.

**aRRoW**

Felicity met him at baggage claim. He smiled as he saw her. He felt utterly normal in this moment; like he didn't just fly to Hong Kong in search of his presumed dead best-friend, with which he'd gone into Heat and Knotted with. No, he was just another average Joe, with his scent filled with secrets. She didn't see him in the rush of post-arrivals, and he grinned as he made his way towards her.

He stopped behind her and leaned forward close to her ear, and said in a deep, creepy voice, "Now that's a view I like. Heart-shaped ass with a crack down the middle."

"Ah!" She let out a gasp and spun around. He leaned back from her wildly swinging fist. She calmed down when she realized it was him. "Tommy!" she growled, a hand over her own racing heart, and the other smacking him in the chest. "Jerk! ... And gross!"

He laughed. "I would hate to meet you in a dark alley."

"Would serve your pretty face right." She grumped.

"Aw. You think I'm pretty?" he said in a falsetto voice, flipping imaginary hair. "I know so, but it's always nice to hear it."

She loved how she hated herself because it made her want to laugh. "Mm." She hugged. "You smell like coffee and banana." She pulled back, squeezing his arms. "You must be exhausted."

"I think I slept most of the flight. But 15 hours is a bitch, even in First Class."

"I wouldn't know." She deadpanned. "Do you want to go to bed?"

"Felicity Smoak, trying to get me into bed!"

She scowled. "You know I meant home. For sleep. Shut up."

He laughed. "Nah. I'm kind of hungry though."

"We could stop by Big Belly Burger." She suggested as he grabbed up his suitcase from the roundabout.

"Hm. Greasy food that has no real food actually in it and is in no way good for you... you know me so well, Smoak!"

She looped his arm through his and they navigated through the post-arrival passengers, both noticing the fixed gazes of present Alphas, Scenting the Omega fresh out off Suppressants. But they made it out to the packed parking lot without trouble.

"Okay, now I want to go sleep." Tommy joked when they finally found the car. "How did you even find a spot?" he put his suitcase in the trunk.

"I came two-hours early." They got in and buckled up. "See what a real friend I am?" She started the car and pulled from the packed lot.

He snorted. "The best." He agreed. "But I could have just called a car to pick me up."

She sighed at his waste of endless money. "You're like a puppy right now. You smell yummy and snatch-able."

"Puppies don't smell good. They smell like... puppies."

"Haven't you ever seen a puppy so cute that you could just eat it? That's a thing." She rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. You're an Omega fresh out of Heat, unbonded. You're scent is ripe and appetizing to any Alpha out there. We should get you back on your Suppressants as soon as possible."

"Yeah." He was quiet for a moment as she drove. Oliver didn't bite him not because he didn't want to, he didn’t because of the unprecedented circumstances of their situation (i.e. Oliver being 'dead' and held against his will). He gave his head a little shake, he was getting way ahead of himself. "About that... I think I want to stay off them for a while."

"What?" she stared at him open-mouth for far too long.

"The road, Felicity!"

"Sorry." She muttered, glancing at the road briefly before looking back to him. "What do you mean, Tommy?"

"I've already been through my Heat, so another won't be coming for a while. After Laurel, that pregnancy scare seriously freaked me out and I jumped right back on them. But I want to see what it's like. To be an Omega, to be myself. Maybe it'll fuck with my dad, too, but what exactly is so wrong with being an Omega other than the inconvenient Heat once in while?"

"Tommy..." she murmured softly. Felicity had asked him once, after he had told her that he was an Omega, what a Heat was like. And this was how he explained it to her:

"You know zombies?" that that her wary right off the bat.

"Yeah..."

"Okay, so... picture zombies—"

"Like from _The Walking Dead_?" she shuddered. She loved and feared that show, Tommy always made her TiVo it so they could watch it together at night.

"Heh. Yeah, sure, you can think of them, but we'll use classic zombies; brains to coincide with Knots. So, zombies after brains. Picture that, but Omegas after Knots. Obsessed, tunnel vision. Literally the only thing on their mind. Alpha pheromones like the smell of blood. A frenzy. Sex with a Beta while in Heat... no offence, but meh." She rolled her eyes at him. "That's like a zombie with animal brains. It's good, but it just doesn't hit that right spot deep inside, sate that lustful craving for _Knot_. Brains, brains, brains." He said in a monotone, miming a zombie.

She snorted at him, "Yeah, so not _The Walking Dead_." She thought through it, and shuddered lightly at what she got. "So," she worked through his reasoning, "Zombies crazy for brains. Omegas crazy for Knots—Except, instead of the humans fleeing for their lives, the Alphas _run_ towards you? Because you‘re scent draws them in." She paused. "Wouldn’t vampires have been—"

"Don’t take away from my metaphor." But he nodded. "God, they should really make a porn out of this!" he gasped. He took out his cell phone, his thumbs darting across the touch screen.

"You're looking it up, aren't you?" she drawled.

He ignored her. His thumb paused briefly before taping once, and then he tucked his phone away. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said, straight-faced.

"Oh, my God!" she gaped at him. "There is one, isn't there? You found it! You so ordered it, didn't you? Ew, Tommy! In my own home, no less!" she put her hand over her heart.

He grinned. "I'll lend it to you... perv." He could so read her.

She pursed her lips and gave a little growl, raising her chin. "Only because I'm curious now, not because of what _you_ want to do with it." His gut peeling laughter filled the room and she definitely threw something heavy at him.

But then when he stopped laughing, he told her, that maybe it was just him. So, that didn't help ease her worry for the Omega.~

And her worry now, after what he just went through, having the hope that his best-friend might actually still be alive… is that what brought this soul searching about? After that Heat, his hormones were probably still coming down.

"What happened?" she asked after a moment, softly. "What did you find in Hong Kong?"

He swallowed and turned his face away to look out the window. "The truth."

"Oh, Tommy." One hand let go of the wheel and squeezed his hand on his knee. "I'm so sorry. I know you wanted Oliver to be alive, but you went in there knowing that the truth is that he might be dead. I'm really sorry that it couldn't be the truth."

Tommy took a deep breath. "It's... alright, Felicity. Really. I think maybe it's better this way. To know now." He squeezed her hand back before she took a hold of the steering wheel again. Too bad she would never realize that they were having two different conversations. He hated having to lie to her, but he was protecting the three of them from the consequences Oliver predicted. "So, can you drive any faster, grandma? I'm hungry."

"First, this is the speed limit." She returned, allowing the subject change. He would talk about it when he was ready, for now, she'd just make him happy and comfortable. "Second, this is not a race car."

"Why won't you let me buy you a car?"

"Oh-ho. No way, Merlyn. I will not have that over my head, don't you dare! I could never afford a for-no-reason nothing-practical-about-it rich people car."

He rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't have to pay me back for it."

"A gift? That's worse!" she pulled into the parking lot at the BBB, putting the car in park and taking the key from the ignition. "Do you know how much more expensive it would be to maintain a car like that? I would be afraid of getting car-jacked all the time. So get that dirty thought out of your mind!"

"Oh. No, no." He told her, getting out of the car. "This has given me a great idea." He stuck his head back in the open door. "Hello Felicity's twenty-third birthday present." He shut the door and skipped through the restaurant enternace.

"Merlyn!" she cursed as she struggled with her seatbelt. By the time she got in there, he was already at a booth, hiding merrily behind a menu even though he always got the same thing every time.

　 **aRRoW**

　Felicity dropped him off at home, with a promise that they would talk more tomorrow. The front door was locked, and he fished out his keys, but his key didn't fit in the lock. He rolled his eyes and groaned. "Really, dad?" Clearly, this was just another of Malcolm's repercussions for taking the jet without asking "permission" and hanging up on him. Tommy was sure the Alpha took harder offence at the latter. The Alpha thought he was cleaver, but Tommy could be cleaver, too.

　His entire teenage years, did his dad think he actually went to bed and stayed in bed, when he was told? That grounding him actually made him stay grounded and he didn't sneak out of the house and off with Oliver? How could Malcolm think that he could "condition" the Omega, without having the repercussions of fighting against his own Alpha father?

　Tommy picked up his suitcase and followed the stone path around the back of the house. He adjusted the strap of his bag and put it over his shoulder. The Merlyn Mansion, much like the Queen Mansion, was a large and beautiful structure. They were older, but well maintained, and unlike the Queen Mansion, the Merlyn Mansion had more modern construction done on it since Rebecca's death. So Tommy had to learn a few tricks of the trade, the tricks of a rebellious teenager.

　There was a section of house, around the side, at the guest "servants quarters", where vines climbed that lattice work against the brick. He laughed lightly as he started to climb, light some Romeo and Juliet scene, only his... Romeo was in Hong Kong. While the inside may have been modernised, the outside was aged and he was able to easily pop the latch to the window. He pulled himself in over the ledge with a grunt, pulling himself to his feet in the stuffy, disused room.

　He didn't linger, and instead made a mad dash from the guest wing, to the front hall, where the keypad for the silent alarm was located. He was breathless as he reached it and quickly typed in his mother's birthday. It beeped briefly, and disengaged.

Home sweet home.

　He Scented the air, and his father's pheromones were a couple days absent. Tommy already knew what the meant; Malcolm had gone off on a business trip after he changed the locks. Good old dad. Alright. Looked like the newly risen Omega had the mansion to himself. Tommy grinned. This was better than he expected. The last thing he needed while he finally was able to process what happened in Hong Kong, was his father's disapproving-everything.

　

[tbc]

**aRRoW**

y

　

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think of Felicity and Tommy as Friends? Hopefully you liked it because there is sure to be more where that came from! :)


	5. Knock Knock... Who's There?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~Tommy gets a harsh slap of reality upon Malcolm's return~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I was doing dishes and thinking about this story, and I came up with a bunch of crazy stuff that kept including more and more characters, and plot twists (with season 1 canon stuff maybe)... so I think I'm just going to go for it.

**aRRoW**

One of the first things that Tommy immediately did, was order Scent Blockers. He didn't get them through Malcolm's private doctor where the Alpha got the Heat Suppressants with Scent altering elements in them, the man would just alert his father. He just called an Omega Center (that allowed for anonymity), who helped Omegas who went into sudden Heats, needed to get out of a bad situation, or were looking for pills like he was.

He didn't really feel all that different, but somehow, his spirit was freer, like now, Malcolm had even less to control him with. Those Suppressant had been a invisible leash that the Alpha controlled. Since his first Heat, Malcolm made him fear himself, his Dynamic. But Tommy was a grown man, twenty-six. Oliver showed him back in Hong Kong, reminded him, what he seemed to have forgotten, especially in the last three years.

He talked more with Felicity on the matter of Hong Kong, but he had to confess some sort of truth to keep the secret of Oliver's life. So he told the Beta, who got very angry and protective then angry again, when he perpetrated Oliver's first intention. Some asshole looking for a quick pay, hacked into Oliver's e-mail, hoping that someone from his family would come in search of the lost Queen. Tommy fit that bill easily enough, but before anything could happen (like a ransom call), Hong Kong Police showed up.

She'd screamed at him, then hugged, then hit him. It was a kind of frightening attack:

"You were in Heat, Tommy! What if— Did he—?"

Tommy had grabbed her and hugged her against his chest. "I'm _fine_. The police showed up before something like that could even happen, and I spent the rest of my Heat holed up in my hotel room. The Heat was surprisingly shorter than my last, so thank God. But I'm _fine_. I just didn't want to worry you."

"Worry me?" she snapped. "I didn't get a e-mail form you for nearly 72 hours. Of course I was worried! Omega or not, you're my friend and I care about you. You shouldn't have gone alone in the first place!"

"Nothing like a good ol' kidnapping to drive home that your best-friend really did die three-years ago."

"Oh, Tommy." She whispered, squeezing him tighter. "I'm still mad at you though."

"I know."

"I'm going to find someway to punish you for this." She mumbled into his shoulder. He chuckled lightly, his shoulders shaking. She rolled her eyes. "Not like that!" ~

He smelled the Alpha's pheromones, barley and bitter cocoa, before he even realized the man had returned home. He'd been gone nearly a week on his business trip, where? Tommy honestly didn't care whenever it took Malcolm out of the city.

Tommy was coming from the kitchen, and that hairs on the back of his neck rose, even before the pheromones caught up to him from the other room. He felt uneasy instinctually, and with a big breath, he pushed its suddenness away, and continued down the hall to the front hall to see his father.

"Ah, you're back." Malcolm said in way of greeting, as if he already didn't know. "How was your trip." A friendly tone eclipsed his voice, which immediately made the Omega suspicious.

"Fine." Tommy stared. "What's wrong with you?"

Malcolm set his brief case on the side table. "I have good news, Tommy."

"Yeah?" whenever his dad said that, it usually wasn't any good in regards to Tommy, despite what his dad thought.

"Yeah." Malcolm smiled. "Every since you came into your Dynamic, you know I've had the company working on something more permanent."

"Yeah..." he said slowly, definitely paying attention know. He could feel the knot forming in the pit of his stomach.

"That's where I was this last week. The trials have been conducted and concluded, and it's been approved to be put on the market. I've already talked with my doctor and we've made an appointment for you next week."

"What the hell are you talking about?" his heart pounded in his chest. He'd completely forgotten about that. He clenched his teeth.

"With this, you won't have to worry about taking your Suppressants everyday." Malcolm stepped to his son and grabbed his shoulders, ignoring how they tensed under him. "Just one procedure, and you won't have to worry about being an Omega anymore. You'll become a Beta, just like you were supposed to be."

Tommy scoffed. "You can't be fucking serious, dad." Malcolm narrowed his eyes. "I am not having _medical procedure_ because you're ashamed of me." He tried to shrug the Alpha's hands off of him, but Malcolm tightened his grip.

He took a deep breath. "You listen to me, Thomas—"

Tommy gritted his teeth and waited for his father to continue, but the Alpha stayed silent. The Omega was awkward under his father's hands as he looked at the man's blank face, nostrils flaring as he Scented, an unreadable look flashing through his grey-blue eyes.

"Alright, nice talking with you." Tommy knew that he needed to get away right now.

"What did you do?" Malcolm growled lowly.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Shit, even after all this time, could Malcolm somehow still smell Oliver on him? He'd showered almost every day since he'd been back. Got Ingrid to wash all the clothes from his trip to Hong Kong. Was it because of Oliver's scarf? Despite how many times he Scented it, how many times he just wrapped it around his neck to wear around the house to be surrounded by the Alpha's smell, it still smelled like him.

Suddenly, Malcolm leaned in, Scenting directly from the Scent Glands on his son's neck. He felt anger instantly fill him, though his expression was impassive. He knew Tommy's Scent, inside and out. After that after disgusting week with the Lance girl two-years ago, when Tommy became uncontrollable (weak) after Oliver was killed when the world believed that it was the storm that had sunk _the Gambit,_ he started spiking his son's food and drink with Suppressant to make sure that it didn't happen again. He still shuddered at the thought that if that annoying girl had gotten his son pregnant. But now—

"What the fuck, dad!" Tommy managed to get out of his hold and jumped back.

Malcolm looked at his son. "You... haven't been on your Suppressants. You've gone through a Heat within the last two weeks. Do you think you could fool me with Scent Blockers?" Tommy tensed, and if Malcolm had needed confirmation, that would have been it. Scent Blockers could never truly cancel the perfume of pregnancy. Of course the young man was too stupid to realise even that.

Tommy said through gritted teeth, "They took my Suppressants at customs."

"Yes, your little _vacation_ to Hong Kong." Malcolm took a single step towards him. "How did that go? Is that where an Alpha bent you over and fucked you like a whore? Tell me, who's the sperm donor to the little bastard."

The knot in his stomach clenched and he felt nauseas. "W-What?"

Malcolm let out a cruel bark of laughter as it occurred to him that Tommy didn't even _know_ himself. "You stupid _pup._ Insolent brat. Have I taught you nothing? Did nothing stay in that hormone seeped brain of yours?" he jabbed harshly at Tommy's temple, making him flinch. "What nameless, faceless Alpha _Knotted_ you, then _knocked you up_?"

Tommy stared at his father. He was... pregnant? He swallowed. That could only mean that it was... Oliver's pup. Oh, my God. This was... this was... he didn't even know what this was. He needed a minute to process it. No, he needed to get back to Oliver. Or...fuck! The knot in his stomach vanished.

"I will not have you bearing a bastard into my name." Malcolm grabbed his elbow and started to drag Tommy towards the front door. "You're seeing a doctor about this little mistake."

It had been like Tommy was in a dream, but that woke him up. Something inside of Tommy just snapped. After years of being bowed by Malcolm's Alpha demands and commands, this was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"I am not getting a fucking abortion!" he snarled, digging in his heels.

Malcolm sneered at him and then Tommy yanked his arm free and swung at the Alpha.

Malcolm could have rolled his eyes as he caught Tommy wrist easily, before twisting it up behind the Omega's back, and shoving him face-first onto the round wooden table that adorned the middle of the front hall (the very same that Malcolm had thrown him into when he came into his first Heat). The vase of flowers flew off the table and smashed to the floor, vase, flower and water everywhere. Malcolm leaned over Tommy, shoving his fist up between his shoulder blades, his pheromones menacing and oppressive.

"You will get rid of that bastard pup and get surgery for the pump after—let it regulate your levels and return you to the _smart_ , responsible, _Beta_ I know that you can be." Malcolm's breath curled hotly around Tommy's ear. "I will not have my name tarnished by this bastard because you can't keep your legs closed!"

Tommy bucked back against the larger man with a growl, kicking him in the shin as he tried to rise. Malcolm's hold on his wrist tightened, pushing it further, making Tommy cringe in pain. And grabbed the scruff of the Omega's neck, to insert his superior dominance. Tommy's body instantly went slack against the table in submission, breathing hard, it came way to easily off the Suppressants.

"I'll book the appointment immediately."

That shoved the Omega-submission out the door. The Omega's nature to protect its pups override Alpha-control. Tommy let out a roar. He planted his feet and shoved his hips forward against the edge of the table, pushing it forward. They lost balance and tumbled forward. Malcolm lost his footing and leverage. Tommy twisted around mid-fall, able to free the arm that Malcolm had twisted around his back. Malcolm caught the edge of the table and landed on a knee. Tommy quickly rolled away and to his feet, facing the Alpha in a defensive stance as the older man climbed to his feet.

"You're not touching this baby. _His_ baby." Tommy seethed. "I won't let you."

 _His_. Malcolm noted. Tommy clearly knew who the father was. He straightened his tie. "You're not thinking clearly, Tommy." He said, evenly.

"You have no idea _what_ I think. You never cared. All _you care_ about is control, having things your way, fucking Alpha. You don't seem to care that I'm you son—"

"I'm doing this _because_ you're my son."

Tommy scoffed in derision. "You stopped seeing my as your son since mom died." Malcolm gritted his teeth at the mention of Rebecca. "It's like I stopped being a person to you as soon as I came into my Dynamic as an Omega. That I just became this _thing_ that had to be fixed, least it look bad on you. What you can't seem to comprehend, _dad_ —is that I am a _part_ of _you."_

"No son of mine is weak."

Tommy let out a growl of frustration and shook his head. "The only way I'm _not_ your son is if mom cheated on you." Malcolm let out a furious growl that had Tommy backing up a step, before retaking his ground again. He locked his shoulders to keep from baring his neck. "God forbid, how I wish it was true. But she loved you, the man that you _used_ to be. God. Do you know how much I **hate** you? The man that you've become... or maybe the man you always were. You're always good at putting on the mask. But you ruined my life! I despise everything you are." He was surprised that Malcolm was still standing there and hadn't come after him yet, but the night was still young and Tommy had a hell of a lot more to get off his chest. "I could handle it when you went after _me_ —but you're talking about **murdering** this pup—your _grandchild_ —your _blood_ —as if it's just another trait that you disapprove of about me. All you care about is yourself, your image. You're despicable. You're a monster!"

Tommy was left panting, his anger overriding his fear pheromones. His father was stalk-still, his face an impenetrable mask and his pheromones blank. Tommy purposefully turned his back to the Alpha against every instinct in him and started up the stairs. The hair on the back of his neck prickled at having his back to the dangerous and violent Alpha.

"All I ever did was love you." Malcolm's voice was almost soft, sad. Tommy stopped half-way up and looked back at his dad in disbelief. "To protect you. Make your life easier. You stronger." And then suddenly, his expression changed and his tone turned hard, "You ungrateful little bitch. Spreading your legs for any panting Alpha out there like a cheap whore. You are no son of mine. I want you from this house."

Tommy was silent for a moment. "Fine. I'll get my things." And he started back up the stairs. It wasn't like he wanted to stay after this fight, their biggest yet. But he hadn't been confident enough to shove passed his father to the front door.

"I don't think so." He was at the bottom of the stairs. "Everything in this house _belongs_ to _me._ Bought with _my_ money, built with _my_ name. You own nothing but that bastard pup in your belly—get out."

"Fuck you— _Malcolm._ " Tommy sneered at him. "The things in that room are _mine_. I am packing them." He pointedly turned his back to the Alpha and went up the rest of the way. Malcolm didn't stop him. He slammed his bedroom door.

He quickly grabbed his bags and starting packing, throwing his clothes into the bag and stuff from the bathroom, but also more personal things too. The file from his desk that had every legal thing he might need (there was no way he was fucking coming back here), took the roll of money from his sock drawer stashed their just for fun's sake. Pictures that he had, Oliver's scarf—anything and everything he could think of that would fit in his bags.

He took his wallet and tossed out more than half the cards with a black strip. At his bedside table he picked up the bottle of his Suppressants that Malcolm had been making him take since he was eleven-years-old, prescribed by Malcolm's personal doctor. Tommy picked it up and popped the lid—and dumped the orange pills all over the floor.

Finally packed, he came downstairs, his knuckles white from the tight grip he had on his bags. Malcolm was nice enough to wait up and see him out, having straightened his appearance in Tommy absence.

"No car. No trust fund. No home." Malcolm told him condescendingly. "You have nothing. You _are_ nothing."

Malcolm thought he was hurting him. Once, it had been a worst fear for Tommy; his father finally just getting sick of him and cutting him off. Now, it was like a fucking weight from his shoulders. In this moment, it was good riddance, fuck you! Later, probably not so much.

Tommy stopped in the open door, looking back on last time—at his childhood home, at his father—his face stone. "You're wrong." He said with complete conviction. "Mom would be so disappointed in you. I'm glad she'd dead so she doesn’t have to see the kind of Alpha that you are." And he slammed the front door with finality behind him. "The kind of father you are."

His strides were quick on the rounded drive to the front gate, his heart pounding in his chest, nausea twisted his stomach in anxiety, he was sweating. The crashing and screaming coming from the house made him flinch and walk faster, hitting the street with relief, wanting to get as far away from the angry Alpha as soon as possible before he really did decide to come after the Omega.

Tommy didn't stop until he was out of his quarter, the homes of the rich stretched across with their large properties. The sky was starting to darken, night was falling, and he was left on the street corner with all his worldly goods, with a pup in him (apparently), and no roof over his head, with 10 grand in cash.

Tommy took several deep breaths, pulled out his cell and called a cab. One step at a time…

**aRRoW**

Felicity was just about to settle down in front of her TV with some homemade mac and cheese and a big glass of chocolate milk to watch _The Simpsons_ reruns clad in her pyjamas and fuzzy socks after a very boring and predictable day at Queen Consolidated’s IT Department, when someone knocked on her door.

She set her fork in the bowl and put it on the coffee table, cautiously approaching the door. It wasn't extremely late, but it was late enough that getting an unexpected visitor should be treated with caution. She was a single, unattached Beta living alone, after all. She looked through the peep hole, and seeing Tommy, she immediately undid the deadbolt and chain.

"Tommy?" she was surprised. Usually he'd call or text if he was going to come over this late, but she could immediately sense that something was off, other than the two bags he was holding as a big give-away. "Tommy, what's wrong?" she shut the door behind him and locked it again. She hesitated, "Is this about... what happened in Hong Kong?"

"Sort of," Tommy told her awkwardly. Still standing by the door, still holding his bags, "Sorry to drop by, suddenly. I could go if your—

"It's fine. You know it is." She stopped him. "Better you than a robber I would think." Felicity said, watching him closely. "Are you hungry? I just made some mac and cheese."

"No, not right now."

Turning down her mac and cheese was another sign. "Are you okay, Tommy? You look pale, like you're in shock. And you have... bags?"

"Um, my dad kicked me out, cut me off."

"What?" Felicity was open-mouthed for a moment, flabbergasted, before she got a hold of herself. She took the bags from his hands, jerked his coat from his shoulders, and manhandled him to the couch. He let her, still didn't know what to do with himself. "Why? What happened?"

"We fought," Tommy told her. "It was a big one, as soon as he got home. He was _happy_ because Merlyn Global finally developed a more permanent device for Omegas and it was going on Market. No more incontinent pill popping everyday to keep those pesky hormones at bay so his son wouldn't turn into a Knot whore!" he said in a mock-advertising voice. He shook his head in disgust and Felicity squeezed his arm as she listened. "He was _ecstatic_ about it, like it was some great gift to me and not about him at all. And then he Scented me... and he found out about Hong Kong."

"He found out about you looking for Oliver?" she asked in confusion. "How?" she was pretty sure the only people who knew that they were looking for signs that Oliver might still be alive, were themselves. She knew that Tommy would never have told Malcolm about it.

"No. About going off my Suppressants and going into Heat."

Felicity look offended. "He can't kick you out because your Suppressants were taken away. How big of a bastard can you be?"

"He was angry about that, like he always is when my 'Omega' shows, but," Tommy looked pained, "That's not... _why_."

"What? Then why?"

"He said that I was... _pregnant_. That he could Scent it. He wanted me to get an abortion, he tried to drag me from the house. And then get surgery for the hormone-control device that he had his company invent just so he wouldn't have to have an Omega for a son!"

"He could Scent that you are pregnant..." Felicity repeated slowly.

Betas weren't especially known for their pheromones-scenting abilities, except for some extreme cases, not like Alphas or Omega who’s were always ‘on.’ There wasn't anything particularly spectacular about their physical make up, like an Alpha's Knot or Omega's Heat. Felicity sometimes joked (to herself, some people were just so uptight), that Betas were made up of the leftover genetics, that they were the spares of society in the Alpha-Omega Show. Fillers. Extras. Like from _The Truman Show_. They had Scent Glands, yes. They bond-bite site at the back of their necks. Just nothing extraordinarily unique about them physically—Beta males couldn't get pregnant, Beta females didn't have a retractable penis.

"Hang on, hold on!" Felicity told him. "I don't understand. Pregnant? How are you pregnant? The only way male Omegas can get pregnant is when in Heat—Holy crap, Tommy!" she gasped and looked at him in fear and horror. "Were you... _raped_ in Hong Kong? That Alpha that kidnapped you, you said it didn't get that far, that you weren't with him long enough!"

He made a sound in the back of his throat. "I _wasn't_ raped, Felicity."

"Everything you've told me about your time in Hong Kong has been vague and filled with half-truths. What the hell happened? What aren't you telling me? _Why_ won't you tell me? You're _pregnant_ , Tommy."

"Please, Felicity." Tommy begged. He pushed the heels of his palms into her eyes, groaning, before carding his fingers through his hair and tugging at the dark strands. "It was consensual, I promise. I didn't know that I was pregnant—don't know—I'm mean, I was in Heat with Laurel for a week and there was that one scare afterward—but one Knot with him and I'm pregnant?" He carded his fingers through his dark hair again. "How the hell could I have predicted that?"

"Who, Tommy? If not the Alpha that kidnapped you. Who?" Felicity pressed.

"I _can't_ tell you."

"Tommy—" the expression on her face nearly made him confess the truth- _truth_.

"He saved me." He whispered finally, his eyes fixed on the muted TV, seeing it but not seeing it, just yellow blurs on the screen. As long as she didn’t find out that it was Oliver, everything else was eligible. "When I was in danger over there, he saved me. I wanted it, him. And though the Heat made me _really_ want it, that wasn't it. It was _him_. Like I knew him, but he was stranger at the same time. It was nothing like it was with Laurel. There was the Heat, but I was _myself_ —I was nothing like what Malcolm always said."

Finally, he looked at her nervously. She was still. But it wasn't the kind of at-rest that she was like when they laid on each other like kids on her couch for movie night. It was like she was a robot and she sort-circuited. Her blue eyes were glazed behind her glasses, her pink lips parted lightly, her expression blank. He wondered if he broke her. He swallowed. Her hands were still on his, he wanted to turn his hands and grab hers, but what if he moved and she took her hands away?

The cab ride over had brought him no clarity. All he knew, was that there was Felicity and she could fix this, she could help, because that's what she did, that was who she was. She had become his rock, his platform. He trusted her. In his life right now, she knew more about him than even Ollie did, especially of his life over the last three-years since _the Gambit_ went down.

"Holy crap, Tommy!" Felicity repeated, but with a slightly different undertone, and her body just leapt back into life like an unfrozen movie, making him jolt. "Don't you realize that he was _the_ one? Your mate. Not like mate as in sex, but like mates, mate-mate!" she grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Matey. I'm not talking about pirates here. Tommy!"

"Felicity!" Tommy grabbed her small shoulders and gave her a little shake in return. "What the hell are you saying? That O—That the Alpha is my..." his heart thumped in his chest and the rest of the word caught in his throat.

"Okay. Tommy. Tommy? Are you listening?" Felicity put Tommy's hands back in his lap, her smaller hands over them, staring at him very seriously and intently.

"Yes." He said nervously. God, he'd almost slipped and said Oliver. He hoped that she was too frazzled with her other revelations to notice. "Speak, please."

She took a deep breath. "Alphas and Omegas were designed by nature to be together. No one knows why, it just _is_. You're pheromones call out and attract you to each other, a mating call—like with animals. Alphas are born with an inflation at the base of the penis, Omegas were born with the specific aptitude to receive such aberration. Just like with an Alpha’s Scent, some are more appealing than others, your body instinctively responds to the pheromones. Like with Laurel, her Scent—"

"Basil and parchment."

She squinted at him from behind her glass for a moment. "Okay. So, your Heat with her was all instinctual, animalistic Heat/Rut. But this other Alpha from Hong Kong, he soothed the raging Heat-monster in you instead of antagonizing your hormones. Your pheromones attracted each other, aroused each other, but they calmed each other too. Instead of a battle of control, it was a partnership. You correspond with each other. Mate-mate."

"Wow. Okay." He said after a moment a little in shock, but pleased at her revelation. "Well, this was definitely better than getting the sex talk from Malcolm. You can imagine exactly how educational and fun—and traumatizing—that was."

"That didn't seem to stop you," she said drily. "Especially if what I read about you after our first meeting was any indication."

"Yeah, anonymous, one-night-stand sex is great—and I've had a lot of that, trust me. But Malcolm really did scare me from Alphas, I've only had sex with a handful before, and I never let them Knot me, Laurel was my first, actually. And only two ever in Heat. Because I was so scared that even on the Heat Suppressants, even out of Heat, I might have still been able to get pregnant. Least of all with some stranger. I didn't ever want to have to bring a pup home to Malcolm. So I stuck with Betas and even Omegas a few times. But now..." he swallowed.

"The way you sound... he didn't Claim you, did he?" she leaned a little closer and inhaled deeply, Scenting him. Even Betas could Scent a bond like that. "Coffee and banana." She murmured thoughtfully, just like at the airport. She’d never been able to really smell _him_ before, just his cologne and deodorant.

"He said that he couldn't. That it was too dangerous right then for the both of us. It wasn't the time. I wanted him to so bad, but I knew that he was right." He bit the inside of his cheek. "I didn't even want it with Laurel, in the Heat-haze. I don't remember much still," he palmed his mouth, "But I think she tried it a few times, Claiming me in her Rut. Definitely came out with a few bruises, but bite-free, thankfully."

They sat in silence for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts. There was a light furrow between Felicity's brows as her mind tried to connect dots she couldn’t see.

"Do your really think I'm... pregnant?" he clenched his hands on his knees, refusing to rub his stomach, and instead just looked down at himself.

Felicity gave her head a little shake and focused on the strained Omega. As much as she might be a bit upset that he felt that he couldn't tell her what really happened (and boy, did she want to know who the Alpha was that made her friend like this), that could wait. What was happening to Tommy was clearly more important

"It's not about me somehow becoming my father,"

"That could never happen." Felicity agreed softly.

"It's _his_ baby, a part of _him_. And I could never kill that, something of him. Because anything of his, is special. I couldn't do that—" _Anymore than I could have believed that he'd died in that storm at sea._ "I would die."

She patted his hands. "We'll make an appointment to go see a doctor tomorrow... At the clinic in the Glades."

His head shot up. "My mom's clinic?"

Felicity nodded. "Well, seeing as you're not one of the wealthy 1% anymore, just your average Joe struggling to get along in the world like the rest of us—a free clinic is going to become your best-friend especially if you are."

"Yeah," he said darkly, "I bet my dad's already cancelled all my accounts and I'm sure he'd especially relish taking away my health coverage."

"It's going to be alright, no matter what happens." Felicity promised. She stood and went to make her way to the kitchen, when he stood as well. She turned back to him. "And where do you think you're going?" her brow cocked and she planted her hands on her hips.

"I—" he furrowed his brows and looked at her in confusion. "I was going to go. It's late. I have some cash on me. I'm just going to go stay at a hotel."

"You're staying right there." She countered. "I'm going to get you some mac and cheese, we're gonna watch _Spy_ and laugh, and tomorrow, we'll go to the clinic. You can sleep on the couch."

"The couch." He repeated. She narrowed her eyes at his tone. "What about your bed?"

"As much as I'm sure that would be nice—we are not sleeping together."

"Just nice?' He winked, "I knew you fantasized about me, Smoak." She blushed and sputtered. "I'm your guest, you're a terrible host. I'm totally not fit as a bred billionaire to sleep on couches." He joked.

"Oh, Tommy." She stepped to him just so she could pat his shoulder mock-consolingly. "This is the real-world. You're a guest, not the president. You get the couch."

"So, you're saying you'd rather sleep with Mister President Baroc Obama, than me?"

"Heck, yeah!" She started towards her kitchen again. "Have you see that tall drink of water?" she smiled as she got him a bowl to his howls of laughter. No matter the news tomorrow, they would be alright—she just wished that he didn't feel like he had to hide the identity of the other father.

Felicity stayed up with him until late into the night, well after midnight, before she called it quits and got ready for bed before as she claimed conspiracy: he was trying to make her pass out on the couch so he could seduce her bed.

He was tired physically and emotionally, but laying in the quiet and in the dark on a couch that was just a touch too short for his frame, did nothing to stop his racing mind. Felicity was an expert at distracting him when she wanted or making his face the facts, but with her in bed he was doomed with the latter. His mind just kept circling, no productive planning happened and he was exhausted by the time 8 rolled around the next morning and Felicity's alarm went off.

**aRRoW**

Sitting in that packed waiting room, his emotions were at combat with each other. Being at his mom's clinic, in the Glades—it wasn’t too far away that lay the alley that she'd been killed in. But a fresher anxiety, fear, and he didn't want to admit it, hope, was making his feel anxious. And when he'd finally been called, he'd grabbed Felicity's hand so hard he was sure he'd bent those delicate little fingers (and she'd been great enough to bite her lip at the pain and not say anything). Now?

Now, at 11 a.m. on a Saturday, he was the robot that had short-circuited as Felicity lead him out of his mother's clinic and towards her car.

Tommy gulped. "He was right—I'm pregnant."

"What do you want to do?" Felicity asked gently.

"I'm keeping it!" Tommy said instantly, tense. He didn't know what the fuck else was going to happen or what he was going to do—but that was a clarity that was never going to change. This was Oliver's pup. "I'm not getting it terminated."

"That's not what I meant." She said firmly. She squeezed his arm. "This is a major step—a life-changing step. I want to help." They got into her car.

"I know. I'm sorry." He groaned and rubbed a hand over his face as she drove back towards her apartment. "I don't fucking know. Just that I'm keeping it and I've never been so glad in my life that my dad was right."

Felicity was sure that was the only time she was going to hear that statement from his lips with such a relief, and that he was going to say them; and she was sure it was the one thing that Malcolm Merlyn wished he _wasn't_ right about.

What he really wanted to hop on the earliest flight to Hong Kong and track Oliver down again, tell him the truth. He deserved to know, would want to know. Tommy wondered if the Alpha would be happy, angry, or even annoyed at the news that the Omega was pregnant. He remembered when they were teenagers: Oliver slept with a Beta at a party, drunk and high, and there was a pregnancy scare just like he had with Laurel during his Heat—Oliver had initially freaked out, who wouldn't? But after, he told Tommy, swore that he was going to be there for his kid, turned out the Beta's period was just late—but Tommy knew that Oliver would feel the same now. And though Tommy knew that he would want to know, Oliver would be pissed if he tried to return to Hong Kong where he might not be able to save the Omega a second time.

"What are you thinking?" Felicity wondered as she saw his longing and faraway look.

He wanted to be close to Oliver, maybe it would help him think. But... "I think that I just need to process right now, clear my head." Tommy confessed.

She parked at her building and they both got out. "Alright." She hugged him. She wasn't hurt that he wanted some space. She actually needed the space to think through a few things herself. "I'll be home all night."

"Thank you, Felicity." He told her sincerely, and just held the Beta on the sidewalk for a moment. She gave him a small smile and disappeared inside the building.

He pulled out his cell and easily found her name in his list on contacts. She was actually on his Speed Dial 2, after Oliver (which he never deleted), and before Felicity who was his #3, and sent her a text. It wasn't long before he got a happy reply from the young Alpha. He smiled. They hadn't seen each other for a while. He'd been too caught up in his own stuff at the moment, to think about her, or be around Thea and _not_ tell her that her brother was alive.

Tommy had always been close with Thea. Oliver was his best-friend and brother, and Thea was the little sister that he always wanted. When _The Queen's Gambit_ went down, she lost her father and brother both. Tommy tried to be there for her, be himself and be Oliver. They grew closer over Oliver's death.

"Tommy!" she beamed at him, hugging him at the threshold of the Queen Mansion. She buried her face in his neck.

Tommy squeezed the sixteen-year-old Alpha back tightly. "Speedy," he inhaled deeply. She smelled like sugar and granite. "I wasn't sure if you'd be home. It's Saturday. I thought you'd either be sleeping in or hanging out with your friends."

Thea shrugged as she finally released the man. "Mom and Walter have a thing, I've got the place to myself. What about you? Where's your car? I thought I saw a cab leaving."

"Yeah." He sighed, shutting the door behind him. "I had a huge blow-up with my dad last night, it got pretty rough. He kicked me out and cut me off. I spent the night at Felicity's."

"That asshole!" she exclaimed and Tommy absolutely agreed. "Is it because—?"

He nodded. Laurel wasn't the only one who found out that he was an Omega since _The Gambit_ went down at sea, but it hadn't been as big of a disaster as it had with the older Alpha. Thea had been upset that he felt like he couldn't trust her with something like that about himself, about who he was. But he explained to her that his reception on the matter hadn't always been that fantastic, but it wasn't about her, more himself and Malcolm. Even at fourteen, Thea was smart, loyal, and fearless—so she understood and vowed that she would never hurt him like that and he believed her. It was Alphas like her and Oliver that washed away the sins of Alphas like Malcolm.

A protective growl rumbled through her chest. "It's people like him that give Alphas a bad name! I don't understand how he can treat you like that."

He smiled at her. "They're not all bad." He went to ruffle her hair because he knew it annoyed her, but she easily evaded him and gave him a glower but her pheromones betrayed her pleasure at the statement.

"Come on," she took his hand and started to lead him up the main staircase. "I know what will both make us feel better."

On the landing, they turned and went down the familiar broad hall and to a door that Tommy could never forget the place of. Oliver's room, that was still as it had been three-years before, if maybe cleaner. This place had always been more of a home to him than his own house, but now it felt haunted by ghosts not all dead. Now, there was just a lie that might hang forever between the Merlyn and young Queen. After Oliver died, they would cuddle on his bed, surrounded by his things, his scent, just talking, sharing stories, but they had drifted apart lately. Somehow, even after three-years and their frequent use, his room still smelled like him.

"It's been while," Tommy whispered. He had an arm around her, Thea curled up against his side and her head on his chest. "Sorry about that."

"I think that just mean's we're forgetting." Her voice broke. "I don't want to forget, I just don't want it to hurt so bad."

"Thea." He petted her hair. "Who in their right mind could forget Ollie Queen? As long as he's in your heart, as long as you love him, you'll never forget him. It just hurts so bad because you love him so much."

She chuckled wetly into his shirt. "We love him a lot, don't we?"

"Yeah." His kissed her hair and his eyes slipped closed. "We love him a lot." God, he was tired, and he felt so safe here, in Oliver's room, with his little sister in his arms. His mind was finally slowing down after more than 24 hours. He had to get his life in order:

He couldn't rely on Malcolm, he'd learned that the second he left after Rebecca's death, it just didn't sink in until the Alpha threw him into that table before locking him away in that room. He was never going to let Malcolm near his child, Oliver's child. He would tell Thea, but not right now. He wasn't ready for that. Felicity was on his side, and that helped him more than the Beta could ever know.

But right now, he just wanted to stay here for a while with the young Alpha. They were quiet for a while, Thea tracing random patterns with her fingers on Tommy’s slowly rising and falling chest.

"Tommy?" she whispered quietly after a while. His only response was a soft sigh. Thea carefully leaned up on an elbow and looked down at the sleeping Omega. She exhaled quietly herself, and caressed his cheek with the hand from his chest. He did looked tired and a little pale.

"Ollie," he murmured, leaning into her touch.

"I wish you would love me as much as you loved him," she whispered brokenly. "I'm here, and he's the ghost." She kissed his cheek, his 5 o'clock shadow tickling her lips, she laid back down and wrapped her arms around him, burring her face in his throat right at his Scent Glands, breathing deeply. She knew it was stupid, such a naive and little-sister move to have a crush on her big-brother’s best-friend, but who wouldn’t fall for the Omega in some form or another?

[tbc]

**aRRoW**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was on Arrow Wiki looking at everyone’s profiles, and I just saw that Tommy was killed in the Undertaking *the day before* Oliver’s birthday. That is just… wow… harsh.
> 
> P.S: So, here are some deleted bits for this chapter. Whatever, I'm posting them here; it's the only way they'll see the light of day:  
> *  
> She knew it was stupid, falling in love with her big brother's best-friend, but who wouldn't fall for the Omega in some form or another? As harsh as it sounded, Oliver lost his chance. He'd been too blind and busy chasing random skirts and playing house with Laurel Lance to see what was right in front of him. She didn't plan to make the same mistake. She hoped that she could make him a Queen.  
> *:)


	6. In Order

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~ Tommy works to get his new life in order ~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I should just warn you, that Oliver won't be showing up for a couple more chapters. I'm sorry if you wanted to see him sooner, but I got to work out a few things with Tommy first. :)

**aRRoW**

The reality that Tommy was cut off from the money that would have held him over for several life-times was gone, was finally setting in. It had been a week since he found out that he was pregnant and his pocket money was fast diminishing. He didn't know how free he actually was with his money until now. Whenever Felicity had admonished him on the matter in the past, he waved her concern away. Now, it was about time that he learned some self-control. He didn't have the cash to stay in a hotel, especially not the kind that he was accustomed to spending the weekend in for his one-night stands or just-because.

Felicity's couch was fast becoming his new bed, accustomed with a extra pillow and blanket from her closet.

He knew that he was pregnant. He knew that he was keeping it. He knew that he had to get his shit together because before he knew it, he would have a babe in his arms. He needed a job, he needed to get his own apartment, he needed to know what he was doing. In Oliver's room at Queen Mansion, curled up with Thea, he had made this plan. But a week later, he was a permanent fixture on Felicity's couch.

This place was safe, this place wasn't harsh. It hid him from reality and he hoarded that.

**aRRoW**

Felicity felt herself being Momma Beta often since Tommy had been cut-off and was found on her doorstep like an abandoned pup left at the fire station. His concept of life had been ripped out from under him like a rug, and then he had this big responsible _thing_ thrust upon him called parenthood—and was left floundering—not only for that but on his own self too.

The former billionaire was raised with no concept of how the 'real-world' actually worked. He had no experience. He was like a foreigner, new to America. He grew up having everything handed to him, money always bailed him out of everything. He had no practical skills, he didn't need them when he had people who got paid to do it for him. But now, Tommy had none of those things. He only had his own to hands to rely on, and her for guidance.

She needed to start small, lest she scare the little pup. He didn't even know how to do his own laundry until he started 'living' with the Beta:

"What the frack am I looking at?" she questioned, her stomping from her bedroom disrupted by dragging the over-flowing hamper behind her into the living room.

"What?" Tommy was sprawled on what used to be her precious couch and was now his bed, eating directly from a bag of Doritos. Crumbs sprayed from his mouth. She had discovered long ago that for all that Tommy acted rich, he didn't _eat_ like she thought a billionaire would; delicately? Poised? Anything but how he actually did—in front of her, at least. This was what she got for being trustworthy and not judge-y. It wasn't that she was OCD, far from it, but she worked with computers and fine debris like that was one of her mortal enemies, and spilled drinks (paper cups and plastic lids were one of her best-friends).

"Why are all your dirty clothes in my hamper?" she glared from behind her glasses. "And you shouldn't be eating those—it's not healthy for the baby!"

He hardly glanced from the TV at her. "It's a hamper, that what it's for, isn't it? You put dirty things in there and then the next day, they reappear clean. And these are those new organic ones that _are_ healthy. Pickles and Peanut Butter, I used to love eating that as a kid."

God, it was like having an annoying, dirty, lump-of-a-cousin say he staying for the weekend, but that weekend ran by last month. Annoyed as he turned back to the TV, she grunted as she hefted the hamper overhead and heaved the overflow of clothes onto him, burying him.

"What the hell, Smoak!" Tommy's exclaimed was muffled under the avalanche. The mount of clothes shifted like a live-thing as he clawed to the surface.

"I am not your Maid, Merlyn!" Felicity told him in her loud voice.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Ingrid definitely doesn't wear this kind of bra." He plucked said pink-lace bra from his mussed-hair.

"Give me that!" she flushed pink and snatched it back.

"I'm— _was_ a billionaire, Felicity. We don't do our own laundry." He lumbered up out of the pile, throwing clothes out into an even bigger diameter, all over the coffee table, behind the sofa—making her living room into a complete disaster-zone. "The only reason I know a little something about food is because Ingrid was one of the closest things I had to a mother growing up. She took care of me when Malcolm left. When I wasn't bawling and before I met Oliver, I followed her around like a lost duckling. I would watch her cook."

"Great," she deflated, chucking her bra onto the pile of scattered clothes. "You always tell me these sad little stories that make me want to hug you instead of strangle you."

"It's a talent," he agreed. "I have a lot of ammunition," he paused. "Plus, you're an easy target." He gave her a little smirk.

She growled. "Well, you got Momma Beta now, buddy. No hugs. I'm teaching you how to do laundry like a big boy because I'm not washing your clothes for you and I will _not_ have you walking around here naked when you run out."

"Yeah, but you're secretly hoping."

She ignored him and clapped her hands once. "Now sort these out, two piles. Mine, yours." And she went back into her room.

"Not afraid I'm going to touch your _delicates?_ " he called.

"Make any untoward moves at them, and I'll spray you with water like a cat-in-heat." She called back. She returned with an empty basket, and was pleasantly surprised that he actually did as she asked and separated their clothing into two different piles. "The way your acting, it sound like you have someone come in and _dress you_ like you're royalty."

They put his back into the hamper and hers in the basket. She grabbed her apartment keys, detergent, dryer sheets, and roll of quarters and headed for the elevator.

"Well... since my dad kicked me out, there's a vacancy. Want to apply?" he joked. "I know I can make it worth your while."

They got into the elevator when it arrived. She pressed the basement level. "If anything, _you_ should be dressing me." She retorted, setting her basket down, her arms crossed over her chest.

He leaned in close and said huskily, "Oh, I wouldn't be dressing you, Ms. Smoak." The innuendo was clear.

"Shut up," she smacked him lightly on the chest. "You're already knocked-up, what more do you want?"

He straightened and smirked. "I'm pregnant, not dead. Let's not go overboard. Speaking of being pregnant... I shouldn't do any heavy-lifting—"

"Heavy-lifting?" she snorted. "It's a laundry basket of dirty clothes, _your_ clothes."

"I could pay you—"

"You don't have any money."

"I'll owe you one."

"You hand those out so freely like that for such little things like doing laundry, it'll only cause you trouble. You're a grown man, your not rich anymore. It's not just _your_ life anymore. You need to learn to be able to care of yourself... and your child."

"You're gonna use that every time to put me in line, aren't you?" He sighed as the elevator arrived and he trailed after her into the building laundry room. She gave him a smirk over her shoulder with a glint in her blue-eyes that couldn't be hidden behind the reflection of her glasses; that promised absolutely she was. The laundry room was oppressive, like how he imagined a sweat-shop might feel like. "So, this is how the other half lives. How depressing."

"This is your half, now." Felicity said, over the sound of machines in-use. "Now pay attention..." she loaded her own washer, and Tommy copied her. She poured a cap of detergent on hers and put the quarters in the slot, turning it on and turned to him with a raised brow, making a gesture for him to repeat what she'd just done.

"Half of these are dry-clean-only." He stressed as he put them in the washer.

"Not anymore they're not."

He watched dismayed as she poured generic laundry soap onto his designer clothes and shut the lid with a clang. She twisted the black knob, and pressed the button—and there was no turning back. He knew how to do laundry now. Oh, God. He was down-grading or upgrading...? She would call it an improvement seeing as she wouldn't be his clothes-slave.

Felicity actually gave him a fucking gold-sticker like they did in public school when they got back into the apartment. "A job well-done, Merlyn!"

"Why do you even have these?" he was secretly pleased and her grin told him she knew it too. She was going to make a man out of him yet. ~

That bid on learning to do his own laundry gave him a sliver of responsibly, kick-started a chain-reaction that put energy into the couch sloth and got him mobile to one of his more difficult tasks. He needed to support himself, he needed money—he needed a job.

Staring at the ads in the Wanted Section of the Starling paper over breakfast at the table, all of which he was overly under-qualified for, did not encourage him on this venture.

"Who the fuck is going to hire a former billionaire, unbonded pregnant Omega, with no work experience and a useless MBA?" Tommy bemoaned over breakfast, slapping the paper down. "I am so screwed!"

"Calm down and eat your eggs." Felicity soothed. "You've only just started looking."

"Eat my eggs," he muttered but did, slumped over the plate. All the energy he'd felt that morning for this task, vanished.

"Finding a job is difficult for anybody."

He snorted. "Right. Ms. Secure High-Paying Job."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Before Queen Consolidated, I worked at The Source in Customer Service. I have perfected making people not look stupid because they forgot to pull the plastic tab out first."

"On behalf of everyone in the world... no one is as smart as you!"

"Thank you." She smiled. "And you're plenty smart, Tommy."

"What good is that going to do me?" he collapsed onto the edge of the table, pushing he empty plate aside. He paused and lifted his head to look up at her for a moment. "You can become my Sugar Momma! We both know your loaded, especially with that coupon-fetish you have. Come on! Please?" he wheedled.

"Fetish?" her face went hot. "I do not get sexual gratification from couponing!"

He looked dubious. "Really?"

"Yes, really!" she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well. Huh. I guess I read that wrong." He paused and smirked. "Now this has me wondering—"

"Back on track," she said pointedly with a warning glare. "This is your first job, so you're going to have to start low on the totem pole, whether you like it or not. You're like a teenager getting their first job in the summer—so those will have to be the places that you apply to. With the places that _always_ have Help Wanted signs in the window. They take _anybody_ —even a former billionaire with no job experience and a useless MBA." She gave him a bright smile. "Say hello to another new best-friend!"

"Yay." He cheered with grave enthusiasm.

"That's the spirit!"

**aRRoW**

How low can you get after not being hired by McDonalds? The Big Belly Burger. If they didn't hire him, the street corner would replace it as his new best-friend. There was no way that he was ever going to crawl back to his father. He'd be doomed if Felicity didn't agree to become his Sugar Momma instead of his de facto Momma Beta that he cherished.

Tommy walked in. How many times had he and Felicity come in here to eat at a table or from take-out? But this was different. He approached the counter, waiting behind someone making an order.

"What would you like today?" the teen behind the counter questioned boredly.

"Um," Tommy cleared his throat awkwardly. "Could I get a job application?" God, this was embarrassing, but as much as he wanted to turn and run, he at least owed it to himself and Felicity to try.

But the teen, Henry by his nametag, just looked at him disinterestedly. "Carly!" he shouted over his shoulder. Tommy cringed, glancing over his shoulder at the seated patrons looking his way. "Some guy's lookin' for a job!"

"Henry!" a beautiful young Beta came from the door off to the side of the counter marked Manger a few minutes later. "How many times have I told you not to scream?"

"You also told me not to leave my register."

She gave a long-suffering sigh and turned from him to face Tommy. She gave the Omega a friendly smile. "I presume you're 'some guy'?" she sent a look back to Henry.

Tommy nodded.

"Alright. Come on back!"

He followed her to the Manager's office, which was small, nothing more than a glorified closet. What more could be expected of a fast-food restaurant in the Glades, chain or not?

"I'm Carly Diggle, the manager here." She held out her hand.

He shook it. "Tommy Merlyn."

They sat, with the desk that appeared as shaky as a house of cards.

"Merlyn." She repeated, her brow crinkled. "As in—"

"Yeah." Here we go. This was how the interview usually started.

"So why do you want or need a job here?" she asked. "Wait! I'm sorry, don't answer that. That's your business, not mine."

Okay, so that was different.

"So, Tommy... do you have any experience working in a restaurant?"

He swallowed and sat straight in his seat. "To be honest... I've never worked a day in my life. I was cut off from all that glorified Merlyn favour and influence and discovered that I need American currency to survive in the real world. I seriously need this job." Really, at this point, he was not above begging. Carly seemed really nice, not like any of the other judging robots that he'd met this past week—but the day was still young.

"Well, as you might have seen, most of the employees are teenagers working _their_ first jobs. It's a Petri dish of teenage angst, acne, and melodrama—your chances are very high." She smiled. "You've graduated high school?"

"Yes. I also have a MBA."

"Really? Then why are you applying here, if I might ask?"

"Like I said: I don't have any work experience."

"Tell me about it. I got a Bachelor's degree before I had my kids, and when I needed to start working again—it was as useful as a paper cut!" she chuckled.

Tommy gave a quiet breath of relief and hope. Carly had children, so maybe she would be more sympathetic to his situation. "Full disclosure—I'm currently in my first trimester." Felicity had told him that term. She said it was better than his knocked-up or bun-in-the-oven, it was supposed to be more professional.

"Wow." She beamed at him, "Congratulations! Are you sure you want to work here?"

He stared at her. "Are you saying I'm hired?"

"If you really want the job. I'm sure you can do much better."

"No, no. Don't change your mind. I will definitely take it!" he smiled at her.

She stood and smiled. "Well, congratulations, Mr. Merlyn. As of Wednesday you will be The Big Belly Burger's newest employee—welcome to the family!"

Tommy stood and regarded her seriously. "Ms. Diggle," he took her hand and kissed her knuckles. "You have saved my hide in more ways than one!"

Carly smiled as she opened the door and Tommy turned, almost running into a tall black Alpha.

"Carly," the man greeted.

"Oh, John." Her smile went a little different. "I was just finishing."

John nodded and regarded Tommy with slightly narrowed eyes, scenting the Omega. "Hey—aren't you supposed to be that billionaire?"

"Johnny!" Carly admonished, much as she'd done Henry. "Tommy, I'm sorry—" She started to apologize.

Tommy shook his head. "It's... fine." He gave a tight smile. He should probably get used to this, though he didn't think that he would be that recognizable in the Glades. "My father cut me off. I don't have any work experience but Carly was really considerate and gave me the job anyways." His smiled towards her was less strained and more grateful. "This beautiful creation saved my ass."

"Ah, sorry, man." John ran a hand awkwardly over his head. "I didn't—"

"It's alright. Tommy Merlyn." Tommy held out his hand in the short space.

That Alpha shook it firmly. "Call me Diggle."

"Diggle," Tommy repeated. "Are you two...?" he looked between them suggestively.

"No!" they both blurted a little fast. Diggle pointedly stared straight ahead and Carly's gaze flickered away, her cheeks tinted rose.

_Huh, interesting._ Tommy brow arched in amusement.

"No." Carly cleared her throat. "We're... ex?... in-laws? Friends..."

Tommy looked at them, both confused and curious to the story behind such an odd answer. The silence was a little awkward. "Okay. I'm not one to judge, trust me. So... I'll see you Wednesday?"

Carly nodded. "I'll have your uniform and tag ready by then."

He held out his hand to shake hers, but to his surprise she pulled him into a quick hug. "Glad to have you here, Tommy." She whispered in his ear.

"Same here." He hugged her back briefly under Diggle's watchful gaze. He shook Diggle's hand again, "Nice to meet you." And he departed, pleased and happy. Carly really was his life-saver.

On his way home from the Glades, he got a text from Felicity asking how the job-search was going and if there'd been any bites yet. He thumbed a simple reply: _tell you when you get home._ He wanted to tell her the good news in person and he was definitely going to cook something in celebration.

**aRRoW**

Felicity wasn't quite sure how to interpret Tommy’s text. All week, through appointments and walk-ins they got no cigar. Half the time the interview only went so far because of Tommy's last name, they humoured the (former) Merlyn heir in hopes of perhaps gaining favour. But they usually cut it short 'politely' when they found out that Tommy was an pregnant Omega (unbonded too), if the interview even got that far. Or they simply wouldn't take him for his lack of experience. Felicity had been steadily growing irritated and angry, her Momma Beta wanting to rear her head, but this was about Tommy so she stayed focused and supportive—but it was hard to watch what each denial did to the Omega.

So, when she came home around 8 p.m. from QC that night, she was a little cautious as she saw a _tidy_ living area and salivating aroma of spicy tomato wafting from the kitchen with the radio on low.

"Tommy?" she toed off her shoes, hung her jacket and dropped her purse and laptop bag by the door. She stopped in the kitchen threshold. There was a large pot on the stove and a sauce pan filled with bubbling red tomato sauce and meatballs. He was leaning lightly over the stove, wooden spoon raised to his lips.

"Mm." He turned to her and grinned. "You're home!" he put the spoon down.

"Yes. And you're cooking." This was clearly not someone in the dumps.

"It's just spaghetti and canned sauce."

"So, is this a celebration or a push-on dinner?" she questioned.

He gave her a mega-watt smile that was _not_ diminished by the bit of sauce at the corner of his mouth. "You are now looking at an employed man!"

"Oh, Tommy! That's great!" she hugged him. When she pulled back, she couldn't stop but thumb the corner of his mouth, wiping the sauce away. He blinked at her in amusement. "Where?"

"The Big Belly Burger in the Glades." He told her, dumping the pot into the strainer in the sink. "The manager, Carly, was nice, nothing like anyone else I interviewed with." He mixed the spaghetti and sauce and filled either of their plates. "She didn't get judging or superior that I was an Omega or pregnant." They sat at the table and started to eat. "She was the first to actually say congratulations. It was nice."

"I'm happy for you, Tommy." She smiled. "I told you it would work out."

"Well, Felicity Smoak never lies."

They finished eating and watched some late-night television, before they did the dishes; her washing, him drying. It was very domestic and he was still getting used to doing things like this for himself, but he kind of liked it.

"Now that I have a job, I need to open my own bank account." Tommy mused proudly, hanging up the damp dishtowel. "God, I feel like a teenager. Isn't this awesome?"

"What part of being a teenager was awesome?" she muttered, draining the sink.

He gave her a curious look like it was obvious. "Being let off with a warning instead of getting a conviction. Ah. The shit me and Ollie used to get up to..." he laughed.

"Wow. We had very different teenage-hoods. Thank God." She shook her head as she dried her hands. "Anyway... Can you do it by yourself?" Felicity asked. "Do you know how?" it was definitely a genuine concern.

"Of course I can!" he was offended. "I was rich once. It's one of the first things they teach us in our top secret How To Be A Proper Billionaire classes. But I want you to come with me because I love you and... You're like my Spirit Guide. Except alive, and you don't talk in riddles half-the-time so I at least understand that much."

"Jeez." She gawped at him. "Are we sure _I_ just didn't get pregnant over night like Virgin Mary and have you come out a grown-ass-man-child as some punishment for murdering innocent kittens in another life?"

"Felicity Smoak, you're a nice girl, but virgin? Please." Tommy hugged her and cheekily, wiggling, declared: "Not punishement—reward!"

"Oh, Gawd!" she whimpered and he held her tighter.

"You so looove me."

"Ugh. I know." She groused and smiled into his shirt. Things definitely weren't as lonely and dull as before.

**aRRoW**

Tommy woke up that summer, three months later, stepped out of the shower, looked down at himself—and realized that he might actually look a little bit pregnant. His hands hovered over the small bump, but didn't touch. He couldn't push passed that invisible barrier, that mental block inside his head.

He'd had two check-up in his mom's clinic since it was initially confirmed that he was indeed pregnant. Each time, he got an ultrasound picture. He looked at them and he felt something, a lump in his throat, his heart. But even with a picture, grey, grainy, alien—it still somehow felt unreal. He knew that it wasn't. He'd spent his Heat with Oliver, but...

But now, to see it manifest physically in some way... he swallowed, chin tucked to his chest, looking down at it. His fingers shook and he carefully traced the slight curve with his middle finger before he jerked his hand away with a shaky breath, a fluttering in his stomach. He quickly dried and dressed.

He picked up his cell from the coffee table in Felicity's living room and sent Thea a text. He needed to find a way to address this. He got a reply and grinned. He went to his suitcase and grabbed a few things. What better way than to start with the child's aunt, even if the Alpha didn't know it quite yet.

"So, how's life, Mr. Merlyn?" Thea questioned, laying on a lounging float-y in the pool at Queen Mansion, her fingers treading water and large sunglasses adorning her nose.

Tommy snorted. "Well, Dr. Queen... I get a steady pay check every week, so I'm edging the ballpark."

Thea sat up and looked over at him, riding a pool noodle like a horse. She hesitated. "I can always lend you money, Tommy."

"No." He said firmly. "I am not taking money from a sixteen-year-old."

"Tommy—" she tried as he paddled towards her. "I can write you a check. It's no problem."

"It is a problem." He countered. "Thanks for the offer, Thea, really. But I don't care how rich you are, I need to do this—"

"And you know you can stay here!" she added. It hadn't been the first time that she offered, and how he sometimes just wanted to blurt yes and hug her tight and thank her profusely. But just couldn't bring himself to accept the genuine offer, not under these circumstances.

"Thea," he sighed, finally reaching her. He grabbed the edge of her chair and dragged it toward him. She sat on it in her bikini, crossed-legged.

"How come it's fine that you're sleeping on Felicity's couch, but you can't stay here—with family?"

She had no idea how close to the mark that really was. "I love you, Thea. And Moira. And Walter is a good man—"

"So why not?" she pushed her sunglasses onto her head and gave him big doe eyes. "It's family helping family. You know mom would agree in a heart-beat."

Tommy folded the noodle in half and sat on it, raising him high in the water so that it lapped at the top of his thighs and then hooked a leg over the foot of Thea's chair to keep it close and anchored as he took her hand.

He sighed. "I'm an adult. I need to learn how to be one because I don't have a trust-fund and I don't care about Malcolm's name. Because things are different now. I can't be like I used to be. I don't want to go back to that man that was scared of who he was or what strangers thought of him. I want to be _myself_." He let go of her hand and took a deep breath. "Thea, there's something—"

She looked at him in his swim shorts and gave a little huff. "Tommy, can't you see how much stress this has put you under? Let me help. Look, you're becoming our very own Pillsbury Dough Boy!" she poked him playfully in the stomach. "That's—"

Tommy reaction was not something either of them were expecting. A defensive Omega growl ripped through his chest. Thea instinctively reacted, backing up and ended up flipping back off the chair and into the water. The same happened to Tommy, tangled a moment in the pool noodle before he resurfaced.

He stared across at Thea, who treaded water in a submissive gesture. The chair, upside-down, slowly drifted from between them in the stirred water.

"I'm so sorry, Thea!" he said. "I didn't mean to react like that."

"What hell Tommy?" Thea said gruffly. She relaxed slightly, but kept her distance.

"I—" he cleared his throat and looked across at her. "What I wanted to tell you... was that I'm pregnant."

She blinked at him. "You're what?"

"Pregnant." He repeated. He swallowed. "You're one of the first people that I wanted to tell, but I didn't know how. I wasn't ready. You—" he shook his head. "I mean, Malcolm knows, and Felicity went with me to the clinic to confirm, I had to tell Carly my manager, and the countless others in interviews..." Thea was still quiet, still still, and Tommy just kept talking because her silence was making him more anxious and he really had been hanging out with Felicity a lot, hadn't he? "And the countless, faceless Alphas and Omegas that I pass on the street who can Scent the pregnancy and—"

"Alphas can Scent that you're pregnant?" Thea asked quietly.

"Yeah." He let out a breath of relief. "Some of them can smell the change in my pheromones or something. Kind of like when I go into Heat."

She was quiet for a minute and her expression was grave as her eyes flickered. She hesitantly came a little closer. "Is that... That was the real reason why Malcolm cut you off and kicked you out, isn't it?"

Tommy nodded, watching her carefully, his lips pressed tight.

"God, he's unbelievable! What a complete bastard!" she took a deep breath to reign her anger in. She herself was in a turmoil of emotion: shock, anger, jealousy, even betrayal. All of them personal and very selfish, but she was having a bit of a hard time processing it, accepting it. "Tommy—"

"I’m sorry that I've waited this long to tell you." Tommy admitted, "I was, still am, having a hard-time believing it's real, that there's actually a person growing inside of me at this very moment. But I woke up this morning, and suddenly, my stomach’s showing—and it sort of just hit me. And you were the first person that I wanted to tell."

"Oh, Tommy." She swam closer still. As long as Tommy was happy about this, than so was she. Even if it did make her a little sad that it couldn't be a Queen baby, whether hers or Ollie's. "It's Malcolm's loss. He doesn't deserve you. He doesn't deserve to be a grandpa to your kid. It would be beyond his luck to have you and this pup in his life."

"Well," he said tentatively. "Maybe his loss is your gain. What do you say... Auntie Thea?" even if it wasn't Ollie's, Thea was his little sister too.

"Really?" She gave a little squeal that only sixteen-year-old girls could make and suddenly surged through the water and into his arms carefully, splashing water as she hugged him around the neck.

"Yes!" he laughed, squeezing her back. "We're family, aren't we?"

"Yeah." She whispered against his neck. She Scented him, her eyes closed as she concentrated. He smelled the same as he always did.

Though an Alpha, she was still young and only been into her dynamic for just shallow of four-years. She was still developing, going through Alpha puberty that could last for a few more years yet, her Alpha cock not developed yet. Sometimes people smelt good and sometimes it made her gag. Sometimes it made her body want to draw close, and others it made her tense. So she just avoided the people who smelled bad, and liked the ones that smelled good. It was as simple as that. Tommy had always smelled amazing to her, and she still wasn't sure if it was because he was an Omega or because he was just Tommy.

She finally pulled back, but stayed close, her hands on his shoulder, his on her hips. "Can Alphas really Scent the pregnancy?" Thea questioned. "I don't really Scent the change—well, I mean, right now you just mostly smell like chlorine." He chuckled. "But I always thought that you smelled nice since we were kids."

"Really?" he raised a brow.

Her cheeks went a little pink. She hadn't exactly meant to say that last part. "Well, you kind of do. You know how a spring-shower smells? Kind of like that. And-and, popcorn."

"Popcorn?" he mused. "You've always smelled like sugar and granite."

Her nose scrunched. "I smell like rocks?"

"Not in a bad way!" he quickly told her. "Strong. Reliable. You've always just been Speedy—with sugar on top."

They got out after that, and dried off.

"Are you hungry?" Thea wondered. "I could get Raisa to make us something."

"Sure." Tommy agreed. He always liked Raisa. She was an Omega, too. She was strong and proud of who she was. But unlike him, she wasn't repressed by a strict Alpha father. She'd always known his dynamic was, but had never outed him.

"Who—who's the mother?" Thea asked as they came into the house. She had to push back the flare of jealously and anger towards herself. If only she'd been a few years older, maybe that pup would be hers. "Is it Laurel?" there was gravel in her usually smoky voice.

Tommy glanced at her, a little startled by the assumption. A little tense at having to lie to her about her own brother. "No. It's not Laurel."

She relaxed a little at that. It wasn't that she hated the other Alpha, but she seemed to always play a part in the harm done to Oliver's and Tommy's hearts. "I didn't even know that you were dating."

"To be honest: I'm not. Not really for that last three-years. There was that thing with Laurel after Ollie and it kind of fucked with me. Put me off."

"So?" she pressed when he didn't say anything further.

He sighed. "I went on a trip to Hong Kong. They took my Suppressants at customs and I went into Heat while I was over there. I met with an Alpha there and well..." he gestured to his stomach, "As you can see."

"A one-night stand." She said in surprise. She couldn't believe how well he seemed to be taking it. The baby of a virtual stranger that he was more than likely never to see. "And you're keeping it?"

"Yes!" he growled defensively.

She backed off instantly. "Sorry!"

He groaned and carded his fingers through his damp hair. He sighed. "No, I'm sorry. I'm a little sensitive on the matter—especially since after Malcolm." He sat heavily on the couch. "I honestly don't know how the hell I'm supposed to do this."

She sat next to him, her leg folded under her as she faced him; a hand on his leg, the other his shoulder. "You will make a _great_ father, Tommy. Nothing like Malcolm. I know how caring you are. You were right along there with Oliver for me." She smiled. "Plus, this pup is going to have me—and Felicity as aunts—it's going to stand every chance." She'd never thought that she would be an aunt, not with Oliver dead, but now she was totally going to rock it.

Tommy gave her a watery smile. "You're still just a pup yourself." She pouted. He grinned. "I'm proud of, Thea. And I know Oliver is, too." Telling Thea and having her support, helped him come to fuller terms of being pregnant. Like, even though she didn't know that it was Oliver's pup, that having her acceptance of it, she was somehow consenting to what happened between them.

She got a little teary-eyed as she hugged him. She'd lost her chance at something more with Tommy, but they were still family, and that meant everything.

**aRRoW**

Tommy came into his nausea stage late, at the start of his second trimester. His loose red work-shirt obscured his gaining stomach well. Carly took sympathy on him and took him off the assembly station and moved him to the register, as far from the kitchen as he could get. He liked the move, he liked the feel of ink paper sliding between his fingers as he put it in and pulled it from the drawer. He liked the interaction with people. Though he hated it if someone somehow recognized him. The rich in Starling City were like minor celebrities. The last time he was in the paper, was when the tragedy of _The Queen's Gambit_ happened. He wore a cap with the BBB logo just in case. But what he hated most, when people actually had the nerve to ask him how far along he was, or why he wasn't bonded.

"Welcome to Big Belly Burger!" Tommy greeted.

"Tommy!" Laurel said in surprise.

"Oh... Hey, Laurel." Tommy returned uncomfortably, registering that it was the Alpha. He was surprised that it actually took him a moment, despite the fact that he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her. It definitely was a few times after that week three-years ago. But he'd had his first real Heat with her, he was surprised that his body didn't automatically respond to her pheromones.

"What are you doing here?"

"Working." He answered. "You?"

"It’s my turn to pick up lunch." She said in confusion, "But... What... Tommy, what are you _doing_ here?"

"Oh, _that_?" He took a deep breath. "My dad cut me off, I needed a job."

"Oh, my god." She gasped. "He did what? why?"

He gave her a droll look. "You've met him, right?"

"Okay. Wow. This is weird but, um, could I get..." she gave her order awkwardly.

Tommy fingers flew across the register's buttons as input her large order, his expression blank. "That'll come to 52.46, total."

Laurel handed him some cash, still staring at him. He handed the receipt to the girl on the assembly counter. "It's be just a few minutes."

Laurel nodded. It was an awkward silence between them, with no one in line behind the Alpha lawyer.

"Can we... talk?" she asked after a moment.

"Um..." Tommy blinked. "Sure. Henry? Can you cover for me?" he called. The teenager nodded and took over his register. "Thanks."

The pair went to an empty table near the counter, sitting across from each other. Silence stretched between them again.

The Omega groaned internally. "How have you been?" Tommy questioned awkwardly.

"Um, fine, great. I've been at the CNRI for a while, it's good. The cases I work really help people."

"That's good." His fingers tapped lightly against the edge of the table.

"Tommy..." she stopped and took a deep breath, not knowing what to say. But then she paused for a different reason, because god, she could smell Tommy so clear. "You went off your Suppressants?" she blurted. "Oh, shit. Sorry." She shot a look around.

He gave a short chuckle at her reaction. "It's fine. Yeah, I've been off them for around four months now, actually." He cleared his throat uncomfortably, shifting in his seat as he thought that he might as well just tell her.

"You're pregnant!" she gasped suddenly. It added a deeper sweetness to his scent that was different from when he had been in Heat. There was a woman at the office who was pregnant and Laurel could note the difference in her original Scent too.

"Yeah." He was surprised that she could Scent the change like Malcolm had been able to. "Um, the whole cutting-off and kicking-out was my dad's punishment for refusing to get an abortion." He said bluntly.

"Whoa." she muttered horrified and swallowed. "I always knew that Malcolm Merlyn was trash, but that..." she shook her head. Now that she knew, she could _see_ the change in the shape of his body. Subtle, but there. She knew that male pregnancies didn't show quiet like females did because of where the uterus was located in male Omegas.

"I know," Tommy admitted. "Even I wasn't expecting him to react like that." He shivered. If he hadn't fought back, Malcolm would have physically threw him in the car and dragged him to his private doctor. As it was, Tommy was still surprised the Alpha hadn't try to physically abort him himself, maybe if he hadn't gotten out when he had...

Laurel gulped. "Who...?" even now, a couple years later, and especially after learning that Tommy was with another Alpha and caring their pup, it dredged up old feelings for her. Urges that she had even before they went through Heat/Rut together after Oliver's death. There had always been an attraction to the now realized Omega, former thought Beta. But of course, unlike Oliver, she never acted on any urges she felt. But after finding out that Tommy was an Omega [she had just been drinking out her grief and minding her own business and there walked in Tommy, smelling so sweet and alluring] she wondered if that attraction had been for the man or the Alpha instinct that _knew_ he was an Omega.

"Just someone from the past. He's not in the picture right now."

"Oh, Tommy. I'm so sorry."

_Oh, Tommy_ was a frequently used phrase for him lately. So lately, in fact, that he could tell the difference in tonal use from each person that said it, the emotion behind the words. Oliver, Felicity, Thea, Carly, theirs were caring and sympathetic, sentiment. Laurel's was pity.

"I don't need my father's money. I don't want him to having anything to do with this baby, so there's nothing to be sorry for. I'm taking care of myself. Felicity's a big help too. I'm great, Laurel. It's actually kind of fun to support myself, be my own man." He grinned. "You know?"

"Yeah." She whispered. "I'm proud of you, Tommy. Happy that you finally found your stride."

"Miss, your order." Henry approached them.

They stood. Tommy returned back to the counter and pushed forward four stuffed paper bags and two drink-trays.

"Do you want help carrying some of this?"

Laurel looked awkward. "Could you...? Are you allowed to do that?"

"For you, I can make the exception." He winked, and picked up the drink trays.

"Thank you, so much." She smiled, handling the bags. "My car's not far." They loaded everything into the passenger seat, the drinks going on the floor. "Thanks."

"Sure."

"It was good to see you, Tommy." The hug caught him off guard. She could feel the bump of his stomach against her, she breathed silently, her eyes squeezed closed. She definitely lost her chance, even before he became pregnant, it was that Heat that had been both fantastic and hellish for her at the same time.

He patted her back a little awkwardly before he pulled away. "You too, Laurel."

"Maybe we could talk again without a counter between us?" she got in to the driver's seat.

"Sure." He waved lightly as she pulled away.

He went back inside, clearing a table in passing before going back behind the counter, giving his thanks to Henry.

"She's pretty." Carly remarked as he returned to the counter.

"Yeah." Tommy sighed. "Too bad she'd not my type."

"Really. You seemed to be hers."

"Too much history. That ship has sailed."

"Oh?" Carly raised an encouraging brow.

"Wouldn't you like to know." He smirked. "I'll tell you if you tell me about Diggle."

"Mm." Her brown eyes went a little sad but she blinked it away. " _Way_ too much history."

"Besides," Tommy said, trying to run over the sudden ghosts in the air. "I'm sure whatever you _thought_ you saw while you were spying—"

"Spying? I'll have you know I'm the manager 'round here and you were from your station," she mock-reprimanded him. She shot him a sneaky smile. "Continue."

He chuckled lightly and continued as if she'd never spoken, "—Was just an Alpha-instinctive-territorial reaction for... _reasons_." He finished conspiratorially. "When did you turn into such a gossip?" he asked. "Or when did _I_ turn into such a girly-gossip? You turned me into a girl-gossip, Carly!"

She laughed and chucked him under the chin before she left as a customer came to the counter. "Just putting a smudges of character on you, my little glass boy."

He internally rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the customer. He couldn't believe that it wasn't too long ago that he didn't think that he could survive this, but because of Felicity, Thea, Carly now too and the promise that Oliver made to come home soon that had him confident and happy in his new life. He didn't need his father’s money, his father's name, to be a man. He did that himself.

**[tbc]**

**aRRoW**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Carly, Diggle, and Laurel. What did you think? My first intention was going to have Tommy denied at every interview he went to and be forced to 'crawl' to the CNRI and Laurel and beg a favour for employment. It would be awkward and he'd spill that Malcolm cut him off, she'd Scent that he was pregnant... then take pity on him and giver him a job. I think I like this second way better. I am not entirely a Laurel Lance fan to put it lightly. And I still have a few more characters to come in the next chapter. :)  
> Thanks for reading, the kudos, and the comments! They make me very happy!:)


	7. Knight in a Scuffed Red Hoodie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Abracadabra. Surprise!" Felicity has been hiding something.   
> "Back off!" A stranger saves Tommy ~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a bit to get this posted. I already had half of it written for a while, but I became stuck on the half-way point for where the following warnings are concerned. I knew what I wanted, I just wasn't sure how to write it. Then I got distracted reading some Suits fics that were really great. I hope it was worth the wait; it's a long-ass chapter!  
> Warning: Violence against someone pregnant. Descriptions of an act of rape.

The first time that the baby moved, it had scared the shit out of him:

Tommy had never felt anything like it. He'd certainly thought something was wrong and started to freak-out. Felicity tried to reassure him that the baby was just moving around, nothing was wrong. But it was only a glass of water thrown in his face that finally halted him in his tracks.

He only cursed a little at her tact. "What-what'd you do that for?" he gasped, water dripping off the end of his nose.

She deadpanned that she didn't think it was appropriate to slap a pregnant man. "You know, there's a certain part of Hell reserved for that." He choked on his laughter, and his eyes might have been a little watery as she hugged him. They spent the rest of the night on the couch, hands on his stomach, feeling the baby kick and move around.~

What if he never felt it move again?—her. It was a girl. He'd discovered that at his appointment before all of this, after months of refusing wanting to know as he was asked at every ultrasound appointment.

He cried and clung to the Beta as they waited for the police and the ambulance. This young man, who could be no more than a few years older than Thea, saved them, had come to his rescue. Malcolm was wrong about this place.

**aRRoW**

Tommy quickly toed off his sneakers at the door and shed his light jacket. His days hadn't been getting longer, his shifts at The Big Belly Burger the same since he started almost six months back, but his feet ached, his back hurt, and he felt wary by the time he got home to where he just wanted to take a nap.

He found Felicity at the kitchen table on her laptop, engrossed.

"Hey," he slid into the chair with a sigh of relief. "What are you working on?"

She jolted a little at his sudden appearance, and quickly shut her laptop with a click. "Just some code for work."

"Why are you doing that here and not at work?" he asked, instead of what he really wanted to. It wasn't the first time that she'd be on her laptop or her cell and immediately cut off what she was doing when he came into the room. The first time it had happened, he teased her about watching porn.

She shrugged casually. "Just wanted to get a head-start. How was your day?"

"Same as always." Felicity was hiding something.

She was keeping secrets. He wasn't one to call the pot black. He knew his own would definitely hold the candle to hers. He knew Oliver was alive. He was carrying Oliver's child. These secrets affected more than just himself. What about Moira and Thea? Oliver was their son and brother. He had held this knowledge for half-a-year now. The only thing that had stopped him from contacting the authorities in Hong Kong and here, was Oliver's plea for his word.

"Maybe you should think about quitting."

Tommy blinked at her in surprise. That was entirely out of the blue. "I can't quit. I still have a few more months left. I need the money now more than ever. I have all these books on babies, that tell me how to take care of it, what to expect. _What to Expect When You Are Expecting._ I want to pull out my hair! I haven't even got more than half the things I'm going to need when this baby is born. I need my own bed!" he gave her a sidelong look and confessed, "I totally steal naps on your bed when you're not home."

"I know." She seemed more amused than anything. "You're not as sneaky as you think you are, Goldilocks."

He gave a her a little grin. He sighed. "I need to find an apartment. I can’t stay in your hair forever, camped out on your couch."

Felicity shifted a little in her chair, and her gaze flickered away behind her glasses. "Something will come up. Just like with your job." She squeezed his clenched fist on the table. "I promise."

He smiled at her. "You haven't steered me wrong yet, Ms. Smoak."

**aRRoW**

It was that Sunday that Tommy was awoken groggily from his nap in Felicity's bed. He'd been having a dream, a good one, with Ollie. He didn't want to wake up.

"Tommy," the voice called. The bed shift slightly with added weight.

"Ugh," he groaned. His eyes closed, he was still lightly eclipsed in the dreamy-fog and his consciousness was being pulled two-ways. There was a gentle brush of cool fingers across his forehead, brushing his bangs back. "Ollie?" he mumbled with a sigh.

There was a pregnant pause. "Tommy," the voice was soft and filled with regret. Felicity swallowed, guilt welling up inside her. Now she wished she could have left him sleeping, but they only had until after six o'clock. "Tommy." She quickly swiped away the lone tear that leaked from his eye and squeezed his shoulder. "You need to wake up."

Tommy eyes squeezed tight for a moment before they cracked to reveal two blue slits. He stared at the Beta blurrily for a moment, before his gaze cleared. He shifted himself lightly with a grunt onto his elbow to see her better perched on the side of the bed.

"'Licity?" he cleared the sleep from his throat. "What's wrong?"

"Sorry to wake you, I know your were tired." She apologized softly.

He gave his head a little shake. "It's alright, but why did you wake me?"

"Everything's great!" she lightly beamed at him. "We just have an appointment."

His dark brows furrowed as he tried to remember, but was coming up blank. Sunday was usually their collective lazy-day. "I don't remember having an appointment..."

"Not a doctor's appointment." She corrected his obvious conclusion. "It's something that I've been working on."

"Oh?" he sat up on the side of the bed when she stood. "And that would be?"

"It's a surprise."

"A surprise," he repeated. He paused in thought for a moment. "This wouldn't happen to do with your 'it-isn't-porn-I-would-never-look-at-porn-in-public-not-that-I-look-at-porn-in-the-first-place-that-zombie-thing-you-lent-me-was-not-recreational-I-thought-we-agreed-not-to-talk-about-it' spiel?"

"Yes." She took a deep breath. "But just a reminder, I was not looking at porn."

A smirked twitched at the corner of his lips. "I will take your word for it. "

She sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose and hung her head for a moment, before looking back at him. "Now that you're awake, put these on, huh?" she toed his sneakers in front of him.

"You came prepared." He mused, slipping his socked feet into his supplied sneakers. Readily going with whatever this was.

"You're already dressed, that's 90% of the work already done, so thumbs up!" she smiled at him.

"Are you at least going to let me take a leak first—I don't have a baby using my bladder as a trampoline for nothing, you know?"

"I am a lady," she said. "What kind of host would I be if I didn't let you go pee once in a while?"

She helped pull him to his feet and he went to the washroom. He still had no idea what this was about. He didn't need to Scent her slight pheromones to know that she was excited, nervous, a little anxious, but it didn't seem in a bad way. When he crossed the living room to the door, she was already there and helped him into his jacket.

When he turned back to her, her hands were behind her back and she was giving him a mischievous smile, it looked rather devious on her innocent face.

He cocked a wary brow at her. "Another surprise, is it?"

"Just to keep our relationship fresh." Her hands came around front, and stretched between them was black material. "Don't want to ruin the surprise."

The scent registered with him a moment before his eyes landed on the black scarf and realized exactly _who's_ scarf it was. The one Oliver has secreted away into his suitcase all those months ago in Hong Kong.

"W-where did you get that?" he demanded, snatching the scarf from her hands and clenching it tightly in a fist. "Felicity!"

She blinked at his in shock. "I-I-I..." she stammered around for a second. "I was tiding up a bit and I found it down the back of the couch."

"Shit!" he gasped softly to himself. He had been feeling pretty 'homesick' lately. Thea's similar Scent to Oliver's just wasn't quiet cutting it anymore (though that wasn't the only reason for his visits), so he'd been wearing Oliver's scarf more often than not (especially when Felicity wasn't around to distract him, or when he went to bed), and he must have gotten careless with it.

"Tommy, what—?"

He back-peddled blindly, but found the couch without incident and sat in it heavily. He shoved his face in it, his eyes clouded with tears.

Felicity was instantly kneeling in front of him, hands on his knees as he cried. "Talk to me, please!" she demanded, worriedly.

It was a minute before he got the sudden attack of hormones under control. He moved the scarf down from around his nose and mouth, tucking it under his chin as he sniffed. "It... it's _his_ scarf. He left it for me before he had to leave, so I would at least have _something_. It smells like him... he had it on when we met."

It took Felicity a moment to gather just exactly who _he_ was. "Oh!" she gasped with realisation. "Your Alpha, the father." She felt terrible. She knew how sad Tommy was about not being able to be with the Alpha, to not even be able to tell the man that he was pregnant. She tried to keep him happy, occupied, be there as his friend. It was her love for the Omega that had her taking this step. But now she might have just ruined it.

"I didn't mean to freak out and scare you." He took a deep breath, hands clenched at the scarf.

"No. No. You had every right to react how you did. I'm sorry that I didn't know, Tommy." She whispered.

"Not your fault," he shook his head. "I didn't tell you. I haven't told you a lot of things," he whispered, "I wish that I could. But for now, this is all there is." He cleared his throat and shook his head again. "So, this surprise of yours—"

She blinked away her thinking face. There were dots that were once invisible, now gaining shadow. "That doesn't matter. I can always reschedule—"

"No. I want to."

"Only if you're up for it." She agreed softly.

"I am." He nodded. "And the blindfold—"

"You don't have to. It was stupid. I was just having a little fun and didn't want to spoil the surprise."

"No. You've been working hard on this—if all the laptop clicks and cut-off phone conversations these last several weeks are anything to go by—I want to wear it." He took a deep breath and ran a hand over his face, wiping away the tears (and snot). "How do I look? Did I smear my makeup?"

Felicity gave a light chuckle. "You look beautiful, princess." She cooed and carded his bangs from his forehead.

He laughed. "Help me up, will you?" Felicity stood and pulled him to his feet. "God, it's getting harder and harder to get off that thing. I've been sleeping in it so long, that's it's moulded to my body. Every time I lay in it, it's like it tries to swallow me."

"Tell me about it." She said dryly. "My poor couch with never been the same. The imprint of your big-butt has dashed away all its innocence." She locked the door behind them.

Tommy chuckled. "Tell me I at least don't have to wear this until the car?" he questioned as they waited for the elevator to arrive before stepping in.

Felicity gave a heavy sigh. "I suppose I will allow it."

So, all buckled up in her car, she refused to pull out until he tied the scarf around his eyes. He tugged it over the bridge of his nose with a grin, Scenting the fading tendrils of honey and black pepper tickle his nose pleasantly. Felicity started their journey.

"I feel like this could be a very interesting step in our relationship, Ms. Smoak." Tommy mused. "Or perhaps I should call you... Mistress?"

Felicity snorted and then in a very haughty voice, said, "You shall call me... Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty!" he bowed lightly in his seat, as far as his stomach and the seatbelt would allow. They both laughed. "So..." he turned to look at her, despite the blindness of the scarf, "Any hints on what this _surprise_ might be?" he asked hopefully, curiously.

"One," she agreed after a moment. "Remember that outrageous check that you wrote me when we first met?"

He nodded. "The one that you said you were uncomfortable with because your were sure people could now 'smell' that you were 'loaded,' I remember. I laughed at your expense for quite a while. What about it?"

"Well," she huffed. "I'm sure you will be ecstatic to know... I dipped into it."

He grinned at her. "Really?" he rubbed his hands together. "Well, then, I guess it's a good thing that you actually deposited it into your account, long before Malcolm cut me off."

"Yeah."

Tommy settled back into his seat and 'stared' out the window for the ride. He wasn't sure, but it was at least twenty-five-minutes before she pulled to a stop, put the car in park, and turned the engine off.

"Alright." There was the click of her belt, and then his own. "I'll come around to you."

He waited in darkness, his other senses heightened. Even though he knew she was coming, he still jolted a little when she opened the door. She helped him from the car and with a hold on his hand and one at the small of his back, she guided the pregnant Omega up a short set of front steps, through a door, and into a small lobby lined with metal mailboxes, a staircase leading up to the second floor, an elevator opposite the mailboxes, and a hall parallel the stairs. She pressed the button for the elevator, and guided him in a moment later when it arrived. She pressed the fourth floor.

"I've never been anxious, yet comforted at the same time." He voiced as they rode up in the elevator.

She watched him as he inhaled through his nose and realized that the was Scenting the scarf. "What does he smell like?" she wondered softly.

A smile curved his lips gently. "Honey and black pepper."

A dot grew lightly bolder in her mind as the elevator arrived on the appropriate floor. Something nagged at her brain, but she pushed it back as she once again guided the blindfolded Omega down the hall. They passed a dark-skinned Alpha in the hall with a small trash bag in-hand, who gave them an odd look as she returned it with an awkward smile: "Hello,", but he said nothing and she let out a breath of relief.

"That must have been awkward for you," Tommy teased as they stopped in front of an apartment door and she fished out the keys from her purse.

"Just me?" she wondered.

"Well, yeah," he took the cue to step forward at the light pressure at the small of his back. "I might be the one blindfolded, but you're the one leading me around. Clearly, this is your thing."

She scoffed and shook her head. She sighed. "We're here." She closed the door behind her.

Tommy pulled the scarf from his eyes and down his face to wrap around his throat. He furrowed his brow as he looked around the empty apartment.

"Surprise!" Felicity cheered, but Tommy looked at her in confusion.

"I don't understand," he confessed.

Felicity dropped her arms. "This is it, the apartment. Surprise." He continued to look at her blankly. "The apartment." She repeated slowly. "It's ours. To live in. Or..."

"What?" he blinked rapidly. "Are you telling me you've rented this apartment... for us?"

She nodded, biting her lip. "So? What do you think?"

"Hold on, Felicity. Just..." he took a deep breath, trying to wrap his head around it. "Use full sentences please, and tell me was is happening."

"Okay." She took a deep breath herself. "So, all the laptop clicks and cut off calls, that was this. I was looking for apartments, for you—well, er, us. Um, well, you kept talking about getting your own apartment and getting out of my hair, and sure, maybe if it was just you, then I would have been way more supportive—"

"I thought you were plenty supportive," he mumbled.

"—but you're pregnant, Tommy! For all intense and purposes, a single-parent. You're working your first job, at minimum wage—that's not enough to support you right now. And what about when the baby's born? The hospital bills, you won't be able to go back to work until its old enough for daycare. So, it just got me thinking... what is really so wrong with our arrangement? I mean, we're really good roommates, friends, we love each other. The only thing that needed to change was the living space. Abracadabra!" she spread her arms at the apartment around her. "The solution!"

Tommy stared at her stunned for a moment and tears welled in his eyes.

"Tommy!" she gasped and hugged him. He buried his face in her throat. "What's wrong? It— If you don't want to— I mean—"

He shook his head against her throat, inhaling sharply before straightening up. "That's not it." He assured her. "But, Felicity, I can't ask you to do this. To move out of your apartment. To pay more for this place. Because you think I can't take care of myself—"

"And that's not why I did it," she returned. "Though, to be honest, you were a little more helpless before I got through with you." She mused and he gave a watery-chuckle. "You've become my best-friend, Tommy, and I love you. Having you live with me these last months, made me realize just how cut-off and lonely I've been. Despite your previous reputation, you've been a good influence on me."

He pulled away, wiping his face. "I'm going to pull my weight," he told her firmly. "That means paying my half."

"I know. Your name's on the lease too."

"Okay. Good." He grinned at her.

"Alright, grand-tour time!"

"Lead the way, Ms. Smoak."

"This way, Mr. Merlyn!"

They currently stood in a large open space; the living room. Straight after it, was the kitchen. To the right was a hall that had multiple doors. Three bedrooms, two medium, the third small. And a pretty good sized bathroom. There was closet-space and even a small balcony that lead from the living room.

"Holy shit!" Tommy exclaimed at the end of the tour as they ended up back in the living area, though it wasn't the first-time throughout the tour. "How did you even find this place?"

"All I know," she said, "Is that I am not looking a beautiful gift horse in the mouth if I don't have to."

"Just a little loaded in the bank, eh?" he winked.

"Okay, I'm just going to talk to the building manager for a minute. I'll be right back." Tommy nodded and she disappeared down the hall, leaving him standing in the doorway.

The apartment across the hall opened, and in the doorway, stood the same dark-skinned Alpha that they'd passed in the hall. "Tommy,"

"Diggle!" Tommy grinned, not surprised. "I knew I Scented you when you passed us."

"Yeah." Diggle leaned against the doorjamb, muscled arms crossed over his chest. He glanced down the hall before eyeing Tommy, brown gaze lingering on the scarf. "So, the perky-blond your mate?"

Tommy's eyes flickered in surprise before his expression smoothed out. He smirked. "Felicity is my Sugar Momma. She took pity on me. The sex is pretty great, even if she's into some pretty kinky stuff." He winked at the Alpha and fingered the edge of the scarf around his neck for effect. "She might be small, but that doesn't stop her, let me tell you!"

"He's kidding!" Felicity called, almost jogging down the hall, cheeks red (though it was hard to say if from the mad-dash or the embarrassment). "He is definitely kidding." She sent Tommy a glare. She turned back to Diggle, who had a very good mask. She held out her hand. "I'm Felicity Smoak—an unbonded Beta who is into super-regular sex with no dubious kinks. Just your average woman who makes very very questionable choices about who she picks as her best-friend—still without devious sexual rituals." Tommy snickered next to her and she realized with dread just how bad she was babbling. "And I'm talking about myself in the third-person, and talking about sex way too much with a stranger—so I'm going to stop in 3, 2, 1."

Dead silence. She held her breath with her hand held out. But Diggle looked genuinely amused as opposed to uncomfortable and weirded out.

Diggle shook her hand. "I'm John Diggle, your neighbour."

Tommy laughed. "That's her dating profile on-line—not surprisingly, very popular." Felicity smacked his shoulder and he grinned. "Felicity... Diggle here is Carly's... something. I'm still not sure." He admitted.

"It's complicated." Diggle said vaguely.

"Well," Felicity said consolingly. "I'm sure it can't be more weird than Tommy and I."

"You'd be surprised," he muttered to himself. He straightened. "So, when you moving in? If you need any help with the heavy stuff"—he eyed the small Beta and pregnant Omega dubiously—"Just knock."

"Thank you so much, John." Felicity smiled.

"Why does she get to call you John and I have to call you Diggle?" Tommy pouted jokingly.

The corner of his lip twitched. "I like her better than you, Merlyn."

Felicity totally beamed at him. "It was nice to meet you, John."

"Now you're just rubbing it in." Tommy sulked.

"Like-wise." Diggle chuckled lightly, nodding to them before he disappeared back into his apartment and closed the door.

"Another score," Felicity declared as she shut their new apartment door and locked it (aside from the nice neighbourhood, good public school close-by, elevator, laundry room, and rent control), "Nice neighbour!"

Tommy smiled at her, putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her against his side as they walked back down the hall to the elevator. "Felicity Smoak strikes again!"

"We can start moving in this month," Felicity said on the ride down, happily content hugging Tommy's side. Her cheek brushed against the scarf and she took an inconspicuous Scenting. She couldn't smell an Alpha's Scent, just Tommy—coffee and banana—like ever since the arrivel at the airport back from Hong Kong. She done some research online, and she was sure it was the pregnancy pheromones. "We are definitely going to hire movers though."

"That I'll be paying for." Tommy insisted.

"Yeah, I know." She rolled her eyes. "...My Sugar Daddy!" she winked.

"Whoa!" they both shivered. "It's sound totally weird when you say it." Tommy said.

"I know." Felicity made a face. "Never. Again." She agreed.

By the time they were buckled up though, they were laughing.

**aRRoW**

Tommy shrugged his thick winter coat on at the end of his shift, zipping and buttoning it over his bulging stomach clad in a Big Belly Burger sweater underneath. Stepping into the cold, his hands stuffed into his pockets.

There was a light flurry of snow dusting the sidewalks and roads. It was December. Starling liked to play cold but it was stingy with the snow at the moment. Thankfully. Tommy wasn't sure he could handle being eight months pregnant and trudge through it up to his knees—even if it was just to the bus stop a few blocks away.

He smiled to himself as he slowly made his way to the usual bus stop, his feet and lower back sore for standing most of his shift behind the counter. Carly had gifted him with a stool hidden behind the counter for when there weren't customers, and stories of when she pregnant with her two pups. They made him laugh, hope, warmed him, filled him with excitement—and the Fear of God. Carly insisted that it was natural for first time parents, even second, or third, maybe even every time—Tommy was not very reassured.

They had been in the new apartment for two months now, though it had taken a couple weeks to move in. To clean the place, to paint the rooms, for Tommy to get that beautiful memory-foam bed (that he fell asleep on even before Felicity could get the sheets on it. If it was possible, the Omega totally had a "sleep-orgasm," as the Beta put it).

It was in that apartment that made him take another final dive:

"This room has become the bane of my existence!" Tommy shouted from the middle of the smallest room.

Like the rest, it was hardwood floored, with plain-white walls, and two windows on the outside facing wall. The only thing was, the other two bedrooms were painted, his green, hers blue—now the only thing left was the baby's room.

Felicity snickered from where she was leaning against the frame of the open-door, watching the pregnant Omega in amusement. "You know what you have to do." She said in an ominous tone.

Tommy groaned, pulling his dark hair a little. "I know."

"Why are you so reluctant to find out?" she asked softly.

He sighed. "I don't know. I just..."

"Your Alpha?"

He glanced at her sidelong for a moment. "Not entirely," he finally admitted, turning to her. "If I find out whether it's a boy or a girl, then that's it, it's seriously happening. Seriously real. All of this still just feels like a dream fantasy!" he waved his arms around wildly.

Felicity stepped into the room to him and grasp his wrists, pulling them down and settling them onto his stomach, hers laying on top of his. "This is a part of you and it's a part of him. Yet it's its own person. It's amazing! It's your miracle, not some dream fantasy. It's entirely real, Tommy." She beamed him. "And," she took a deep breath. "It's girl."

"How can you know that?" he asked softly. Worry, relief, excitement tiding his eyes. "Beside your Momma Beta instinct?" he mused a moment later.

She just gave him a gentle smile. "You have an appointment the day after tomorrow—perfect timing—and we'll confirm it. We'll go for yummy ice cream to celebrate whatever it is, and then stop by the hardware store and pick up some paint."

"You had me at ice cream," he told her.

"Should have said frozen yogurt, it's healthier."

"Not take backs!"

x—x

"This is unbelievable!" Tommy gaped, from where he lay in a half-prone position on the exam table. He looked at Felicity with an open mouth, squeezing her hand.

Felicity grinned. "Felicity Meghan Smoak knows all! I told you it was a girl." Her other hand gently rubbed his rounded stomach and she felt the baby kick. "Girl Power; your daddy won't know what hit him!"

Tommy chuckled, before he turned serious. "We are not painting the room pink."

Felicity just gave him a genial smile, her glasses still hadn't learned to hid the gleam in her eye.

The next day, both windows opened wide, he squinted into the box of blinding pink. "The horror!" he exclaimed.

"You love it!" Felicity danced around him, "Pink, pink... PINK!!"

Tommy face palmed, hiding his smile behind his hand. "Oh, look!" he said innocently, "There still a bunch of paint leftover." She paused in front of him, giving him a squinty-eyed suspicious look. He smirked, "Just enough to repaint your room, I bet."

"What? No!"

"Ha! Hypocrite. I knew it!" he crowed.

"So?" she crossed her arms over her chest and rose her chin. "The deed is already done. It's too late to go back now, Merlyn."

Tommy glared and pursed his lips playfully. "See this?" he held up one of her infamous Gold Stars. "Not for you, bad girl. But this girl?" he rubbed his stomach, "All the stars in the universe couldn't be enough." And he put the sticker on his stomach, over his paint-stained shirt.

"Aw!" Felicity cooed.

"Fine!" he gave in. "...But it's only because I feel sorry for you, Smoak."

She grinned. "I'll take it!" she made grabby hands for the second Gold Star in his hand. Before she could grab it though, he stamped it onto her forehead. She stuck her tongue and went a little cross-eyed looking at it. He laughed. ~

He gave a little huff of laughter at the memory. He already had the name picked out. The instant he found out it was a girl, or maybe it was before even that. Rebecca Meghan. He rubbed his stomach through his coat pocket. He hadn't told Felicity yet, though the middle name was for her. He wanted—he was waiting—he was _hoping_ that the first person he could tell was Oliver, but he wasn't sure if that was going to be possible. The Alpha said soon, but soon constituted innumerable amounts of time. Tommy just hoped that it wasn't _years_.

The hairs on the back of his neck rose as he Scented their pheromones long before he even realized that they were there. Especially since he became pregnant, he'd become very hyper-aware of Alphas. It was an instinct, to help in defence. There were three of them. All male. Young. He could smell their sour musk, all twisted and mixed together. They were cohabitant together, sharing each others scents.

He could feel their eyes on him. It made him shudder and pick up his pace slightly. They instantly mirrored him and that made his gut twist anxiously. He fingered his cell phone in his pocket. Maybe he was just being overly paranoid because they were Alphas, because it was dark out and the street lamps were on, because there seemed to be no one else on the street other than the four of them. He just had to get to the bus stop another block away, where there would be other people getting off-shift like any other night and he'd be _fine_.

He turned the corner, his breath held without realisation—and his step faltered slightly as halfway down the street, under a lit street lamp, his bus stop was _empty._ He picked up his pace a little more, trying to put distance between him and them while he was out of their sight-line. His grip on his cell tightened. Seemingly, an act against him. Panic threatened to well in him as they rounded the corner after him and he shoved it down. He made it to the stop, standing in from of the bench under the glass shelter around it, blocking him from the wind.

He quickly glanced at his watch. Thirty-minutes until the bus arrived. He closed his eyes briefly in dread before opening them again, and watching the three Alphas out of the corner of his eye. Counting. Hoping they would pass. It took them seventeen-seconds to make it to the bus stop. The dread settled in his stomach. They did not pass GO.

Where before they were silent, they were now animated and found their voices as they hung off the shelter and moved around his stiff form. He kept his gaze from there's, but that didn't mean he didn't _see_ them.

"Hey, pretty Omega. What are you doing out by yourself?" This one was the youngest, with a lip piercing.

"Want to have some fun? We'll make you feel real good." This one, a little older, with a black beanie on, leered at him.

"Oh, mama." This one was the more dominant of the three and most likely the eldest, with a sole-patch. Tommy thought that maybe him and the one with the lip piercing were brothers—but with their scents so mixed, it was difficult to discern. The last of the three, came in real close, Scenting him—Invading his space. Too Close!

"Back off!" Tommy barked, shoving him away.

Sole-patch stumbled back a step off the curve and onto the road. "Ooh!" The other two crowed. They were definitely high or drunk, or more than likely both.

"Got some spunk there, eh, pretty-boy?" Sole-patch stepped right to him, the other two crowding on either side. "Like it rough?" he grabbed Tommy's chin.

Tommy shoved his hand away instantly. "Fuck off. Get away from me, bastard!" he growled, his teeth barred. Inside, his heart pounded in his chest painfully, his stomach in knots.

They growled menacingly in response. But that made him more defensive than cowed. The backhand from lip piercing took his by surprise, though. He paused for a moment and licked the blood from the corner of his lips.

"Know your place, slut." Sole-patch hissed with satisfaction. "You're going to spread your legs, cheeks wet, hole dripping with Slick, and you're going to moan with my Knot inside you, while you suck their cocks—swallowing every last drop of come like you're dying of thirst." He sneered, "'Cause I know how you Omegas love it."

They all chuckled and Tommy cringed. That was very near what Malcolm always told him what his 'true nature' was. Fuck these Alphas and his dad, too. Either these three didn't realize that he was pregnant or they didn't care—he thought that he might prefer the first. They wouldn't stop because he asked politely, and apparently it excited them when he talked back.

Pierced lip grabbed the shoulder of his jacket. A growled rumbled threateningly in his chest as beanie shoved his cold and grimy hand down the collar of his coat and grasped the nape of his neck. Nowhere near as Malcolm had done it, the way a 'proper Alpha' could that made him go instantly limp—beanie's had no affect at all, other than making bile rise in Tommy's throat at being _touched_ and make him hunch his shoulders.

They all pressed intimately close and attempted to usher him from the bus shelter and street lamp, and somewhere decidedly less lit and public, as he attempted wrench and worm from their hold.

He didn't care what happened to _him_ precisely, only on protecting his daughter. There was no one here to save him. It was only him who could protect Ollie and his unborn pup. That was his job until the Alpha returned— _soon_. He wasn't some helpless Omega. He'd been in his share of "brawls" and bar fights, kicked his share of Alpha-asses—but then Oliver had had his back. And he wasn't pregnant then.

His breaths were fast as he dug in his heels, spotting the dark alley behind the bus stop. As soon as they got him off the street—it was over, he wouldn't stand a chance. He saw the black-gaping maw of the alley—Every Omega-protective instinct overwhelmed him—every father-protect-child anything snapped. He went animalistic.

With a roar, he threw an elbow. It hit something solid and there was grunt, but he didn't stop as the hold on his neck was released. He wrenched his shoulder free and pivoted on his heel, swinging with everything he had. He didn't know which Alpha he might have hit, he thought it was pierced lip, but it was a solid blow. There was a cry of pain, and then crashing of steel garbage cans as the Alpha was thrown into them.

Then they got there shit together. There was groaning from the one he punched, but sole-patch and beanie let the fists rain. He hardly felt it, adrenaline flooding the pain from his veins for later. He got tunnel vision, protect Rebecca Meghan. It definitely hindered his offence as he tried to defend.

He felt the graze through his thick coat and against his stomach. He saw red and it wasn't because the blood from his split brow dribbling into his eye. He head-butted with a scream, a not so deep-thing inside of him relishing the curse and cry of pain, even as his own head throbbed.

But when he saw the opening, he shoved through the pair, attempting to make his escape. He wouldn't last much longer in a close-contact fight. He wasn't even sure how far he would make it by running. Running while eight-months pregnant was just not something someone did. Hell, he couldn't remember the last time he took the stairs! Already exhausted and injured from the fight, his head woozy, half-blind, knees weak—But damned if he wasn't going to run like his life depended on it. He just needed to find _someone._

Arm wrapped around his stomach, whimpers emitting from his throat as he panted heavily, his feet stomping down the sidewalk, the cold a forgotten chill. He dug into his pocket and tore his cell free, the pocket going inside-out and the other contents a forgotten ownership as they spilled across the sidewalk.

His thumb was a jolting toggle as he ran. His panic growing as he heard their faster pursuit, their angry calls and threats. They were closing fast.

9—

1—

He legs were tackled out from under him. He let out a cry, the phone flying from his hand as all thought went into twisting on his side in an attempt to save the baby from the landing directly under him in the seconds that he had. He crashed to the ground, a shock jolting through his hip. Instantly, he curled up into a foetal position, trying to curl around his stomach.

Then they were on him, all three of them. It was no longer about _dominating_ him sexually whether he liked it or not (which never ever in a million years!), more taking him down a peg with force. Not being pregnant, he _might_ have stood a chance—if luck was on his side. But, pregnant, it was only a matter of time before he was overwhelmed.

"HEY! What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"

The roar was ferocious and it made Tommy flinch. His beating faltered to a halt, his body throbbed with the pain. His ears rushed with blood and rang. He could hear the pound of flesh-on-flesh, but they were disconnected from himself. It took him too long a moment to realize it was because it wasn't happening to him. His instinct took over, this was his chance to escape. Tunnel-vision, he slowly uncurled himself and without a backward glance, on his trembling hands and knees, his stomach hanging heavy between him, he started to crawl away.

Low moans of pain emitted from behind him. "Shut-up!" there was a solid thud, then silence. "Hey." Tommy thought the call was directed at him, but it was gentle instead of harsh. The injured Omega simply kept on. "Hey."

The touch, light and soft though they were, just the tips of the stranger's fingers on his shoulder—had Tommy screaming and lashing out. His wrists were caught easily, in a gentle but firm grip. Tommy's blues were wild, unfocused, unseeing, just reacting. Everything in over-drive.

"Shhh," the Beta hushed him. "I'm _not_ going to hurt you."

Tommy gave a low whine in the back of his throat as he slowly stopped straining against the other man. He Scented no aggression, just comfort, concern... safety. He slowly stopped pulling against the young man and his eyes focused, first on pieces, that formed the picture. The torn and dirty red hoodie. The square jaw. The short spiky blond hair. The bruised cheekbone. The electric blue eyes.

Tommy sucked in a sharp breath. _Ollie_. He gave another low keen. And tried to shake the confusion from his head. This Beta looked eerily like Oliver when the Alpha had been a teenager. The Beta released his wrists and carefully grasped him shoulders, steadying him, mindful of whatever injuries might lay beneath the thick coat.

"It's alright. I'm Roy. I've called the police. An ambulance should be here any minute now." He said. "You're _safe_ now. You... and your baby."

A sob broke from Tommy's throat and tears burned through the cuts on his face. It was like the wind was suddenly knocked from him. He collapsed against the Beta who was _safe_. Clinging. Sounds of low whimpering left his throat, of a fear bound and hurt Omega. Roy only hesitated the briefest of twitches before he wrapped his arms around the Omega, petting the bloody and sweaty bangs from his forehead, murmuring comforting sounds like he’d done years before with his mom and sister.

It was almost five minutes later that Roy heard the closing sirens. He could have cursed them for taking so long. The Glades were never a priority, not even when he emphasised that it was a pregnant Omega that had been attacked. It was hours before they came when he had to call them from a payphone after he came home from school and found his mom dead from an overdose.

Finally, the ambulance pulled to a halt in front of them and two EMTs jumped out, the woman rushed to them, a bag in hand, while the man opened the back doors and pulled down the gurney. Despite how close Tommy was to the truck, in his condition, there was no way that he would be able to climb in. In his condition, it was probably best that he move as less as possible.

Two patrol cars soon pulled in and the officers detained the three rousing Alphas just in time. Cuffing, reading them their rights, and stowing them in the back of the cars with a lot of curses.

Despite the fact that both EMTs were Betas, and in his exhausted, half-conscious state, Tommy tensed and clung onto Roy fiercer. Tommy refused to move or anything else, until Roy mentioned his baby. Roy helped the woman _pick_ the Omega up and as gently as possible put him on the gurney. He cringed at the moan of pain.

They started to load the gurney into the back, but their progress was briefly halted.

"Please don' leave." Tommy begged, somehow finding the energy it took to grab onto Roy's red hoodie and keep hold. He didn't know Roy, only that he felt safe around the Beta, and right now, that was all that mattered.

Roy took a deep breath. "Can I ride with you?" he asked the EMTs, after getting a nod he looked back to the Omega. "I won't. Not till you're safe, alright?" he promised.

They quickly got in and were headed to Starling General. The woman quickly began hooking Tommy up and checking his stats as the man drove with the lights flashing. She unzipped his coat, which was dirty, torn, and bloody—to reveal his mega-whoa pregnant stomach. That was probably why the Scent was so strong. The man's wallet fell from his pocket to the floor and Roy scooped it up, peeking inside to at least get the guy's name.

"Tommy." Roy held him hand the entire way.

When they got to the hospital, Roy was left in the waiting room behind the Red Line as they took him to the ER through those double doors. The nurse on duty called him over to the desk and he awkwardly fished through Tommy's (nice leather) wallet and handed over his health card. The nurse scanned it and dialled the Emergency Contact that came up on file. And then the Beta was left to wait.

He tried sitting in the hard plastic chairs in the half-crowded waiting room, but he was too adrenaline-clogged to be inactive, so he circuited the room. He scrubbed a hand through his short hair, rubbing at his ribs a little. His ribs felt a little tender and his knuckles were split and bruised. He'd probably visit the free clinic back in the Glades later, though probably not.

He was undecided about leaving or not. He thought he should at least wait until Tommy's emergency contact got there, to hand off the man's wallet. He didn't really want to get into it with the cops that were sure to show up any time now... but it was the thought that if he didn't stay and give his statement, that those three Alphas might get away with it, that solidified his decision to stay. Who the fuck did that to someone, let alone an pregnant Omega? Those bastards were lucky. If he hadn't been so concerned with Tommy, he probably would have killed them on principle alone—or at least maimed them painfully and permanently so they could carry it around with them the rest of their miserable, scumbag lives. As much as he hated dealing with the cops... what with his shoplifting, petit larceny, and grand theft auto merit badges.

He managed to fish the buck twenty-five from his pockets and put it into the machine for a Coke, pop the tab and take a slurp before he turned to see a man in a slightly rumpled suit walk in to the nurses station. Then a moment later, the older man was locking eyes with him. The guy didn't even have to flash his badge for Roy to know a he was a cop a few blocks away and in the dark. The Alpha screamed it with the down turned corners of his lips, unruly greying hair, and general gruff exterior.

The guy jerked his head and with a sigh, Roy approached.

"Detective Lance," he introduced himself.

"Roy Harper,"

He led them to an unoccupied and quiet corner of the waiting room. He pulled out a little tiny notebook and everything. "I'm here to take your statement of the attack that occurred tonight in the Glades with... Tommy Merlyn."

He paused and though the guy wore a pretty good cop-mask, the recognition that flashed through his eyes was obvious, at least from where Roy was standing. The name seemed familiar to the Beta too, but at the moment he didn't even try to place it or care to. He just wanted to get out of here.

"So, why don't you tell me what happened?" Lance prompted.

Roy shrugged one-shouldered. "I just got a burger from the BBB a few blocks away and was heading home, when I Scented an Omega in distress. It wasn't until I got there that I realized he was pregnant." Usually, his interaction with the cops solely fell on him _fleeing_ from them, so he was a little tense with the Alpha detective.

"Pretty good nose for a Beta." He commented.

"I've always had a good sense of smell." Having grown up with two Omegas, his mom and sister, his body just reacted instinctively.

"So, you got to the scene..."

"Yeah. I got there, they had him on the ground, all three of them and they were kicking the shit out of him. They looked pretty damaged even before I got there." He sniffed. "I yelled, you know, to get their attention—then I kicked their douche bag asses, pardon the language, detective. They were just lucky I had other concerns," he muttered the last bit darkly.

Lance ignored that last part. "Where did you learn to fight? Three Alphas, that'd be a tough fight for anyone."

Roy snorted, his fist stuffed into his hoodie pocket, the Coke can held down at his side. "I live in the Glades, _detective._ " And that was all that really needed to be said. And it wasn't even one of the 'nicer' neighbourhoods, he was surrounded by slumlords and crack houses. Home Sweet Home.

"... Anything else you want to add?" he looked up from his notebook.

Roy shook his head, his head turned, drinking more of his soda as a frazzled, anxious, blond Beta rushed into the waiting room, going straight to the nurses desk. He was crashing on adrenaline and he really appreciated the caffeine and sugar. He blinked as after a short, heated conversation with the stationed nurse, the blond was directed right towards them. She promptly spun and came straight for them.

Lance raised a brow at her. "Can I help you, ma'am?"

"Felicity Smoak." Her blond pony-tail was slight askew, her cheeks were flushed red from rushing to get her but were underlined pale, her coat was only half-way buttoned despite the cold, her purse thrown hastily into the mix. "I'm Tommy's Emergency Contact—Room-mate, best-friend, the baby's aunt, and Baby Momma." She said, fast-paced and in one breath.

"Detective Lance." He only blinked once while Roy was staring at her with an open-mouth before he quickly shut it.

"I came as soon as I got the call, but they won't tell me anything." She expressed anxiously. "Said I should talk to you."

She had been a little late in heading home from QC, getting caught up in correcting some code in IT that some other doofus had done a crack job of screwing up—she didn't even realize until her cell phone rang and scared the crap out her. But the real fear didn't come until it was ended. All the nurse said what the Tommy was in an 'incident' and he was currently in the ER, she frantically asked for more information but the woman refused to divulge over the phone.

Felicity had allowed herself a solid sixty-seconds to freak-the-fuck-out-because-something-terrible-happened-to-Tommy-and-the-baby, before she scrambled out of there like a bat out of hell (in a calm like manner). She'd never driven faster in her life, on the longest ride of her life.

All Felicity knew, was that as soon as she got five-minutes, she was getting her laptop and she was going to ruin those three Alpha thugs' lives with her super-scary-hacking-skills. Prison wasn't going to make them tremble, Felicity 'Momma Beta' Smoak was going to make them piss their pants. The Beta usually avoided confrontation, and didn't use her hacking skills for evil, but this was far from evil—this was the least they deserved. It was like the cherry for what she really wanted to do, and Felicity was one of the farthest people from being physically violent as there was.

"Tommy was attacked by three assailants tonight while in the Glades."

Felicity sucked in a sharp breath. "Is... is he going to be okay? Is-is the..." she swallowed thickly against the bile in her throat, looking very pale. She wavered and Roy automatically put a hand on her shoulder to steady and comfort her. "Um..."

"Do you know why Tommy was out there?"

She licked her lips. "He'd just gotten off his shift at the Big Belly Burger. He usually takes the bus especially… before… but sometimes our neighbour John picks him up sometimes because he usually drives Carly home, too. Or I would pick him up if he texted and said he didn't think he could handle the bus."

Lance raised a brow at that, but he vaguely remembered Laurel telling him at one of their lunches months ago that she ran into Merlyn working in the Glades because his dad cut him off. He had kind of figured it was about time that that kid learned some responsibility, grew up.

"Alright..."

"Wait, none of that matters!" she burst out frantically, "What about Tommy? The-the baby?"

"Baby?" Lance repeated.

"Dude!" Roy scoffed and Felicity blinked at the Beta as if just realizing he was there. "I told you that."

"Right." Laurel never mentioned that at lunch. He was sure he would have remembered that. "Where's the father or mother, have they been called?" Lance questioned. "This clearly isn't your work." He looked at the Beta.

"The father's not in the picture at the moment." Felicity told him shortly.

Lance gave a little snort, as if to say: _typical_. Felicity shot him such a heated glare that the Alpha actually had shame flashing through his eyes, as he should be. "Right." He cleared his throat. "I'll just finish getting Mr. Harper's statement, and get Merlyn's when he's cleared by the doctor."

Felicity stayed where she was, her arms crossed over her chest, waiting and listening. Roy just finished off with calling the cops and staying with Tommy.

"You saved Tommy?" Felicity asked breathlessly. Up until this moment she didn't even know who he was or why he was here.

Roy turned embarrassed and bashful under the other Beta's intense gaze. "I just did what anyone else would have." He mumbled, rubbing the back of his head.

Lance made a derisive sound. "This is the Glades we're talking about. The best-case that could have been hoped for was an anonymous call to the police."

Felicity hugged him fiercely. He nearly dropped his drink, and patted her back awkwardly. He felt a little warm at her attention (and not in the sexual way, though she had a nerdy-hotness going for her), but totally out of his comfort zone for someone actually thanking him for something that he did. He may have even sent Lance a help-me look, for which the corner of the Alpha's lips twitched and he left the pair.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." She whispered repeatedly, her glasses fogging a little with her tears.

That was how Roy found himself sitting next to an anxiety and worry ridden blond Beta in the waiting room, until almost half an hour later a nurse came. Felicity all but bolted from her seat and the nurse was the one that had to pick up her pace to prevent the Beta from overtaking her and getting lost, leaving Roy behind the Red Line once again.

Throwing the empty Coke can in the recycling, the young Beta left the hospital. It wasn't his place, it wasn't his scene.

**aRRoW**

Felicity's rushed pace slowed the closer they got to Tommy's room in the paediatrics ward where they had him because of the baby. Her breath was stilted in her chest, and the nurse was nice enough to take her hand and coax her forward. His room was a shared one, with five other beds all occupied with expectant mothers, all separated by privacy curtains. Tommy's was one of the first beds, his curtain pulled closed and the nurse left her there.

Felicity took a deep breath, her grip white-knuckled on the straps of her purse. It was all so surreal, but as soon as she opened that curtain and _saw_ him—it would become some horrible reality. But it already was. Just beyond that thin curtain lay the injured Omega—and she couldn't just leave him alone. Stealing herself, she pushed through the split in the curtains and her breath froze in her chest.

A sob that had probably been lodge in her throat since she first answered the call, finally broke free. She dropped her purse and quickly went around the side of the bed. She carefully took his hand, his knuckles scraped; and with the trembling other, carefully, gently placed it on his round stomach tucked under the warm blanket.

"I'm here now, Tommy." She whispered, hot tears dripping from her chin. "Everything's going to be alright." She was ready for the long haul. Screw work, screw food, screw mother nature’s one and two; and hello horrible plastic chair that her heart-shaped behind would be personal with until she saw Tommy's blue-hues.

It was times like this that she was both thankful not be a smoker, and wishing for the calming of that addictive hit of nicotine—alas, she quit for a reason.

**aRRoW**

It was late morning the next day, the dawn was a grey sky and lazy, lonely flakes were dragged in the current of wind that twisted around that tall city buildings.

Felicity was slumped, exhausted and passed-out on the side of Tommy's bed, head nestled at his hip, slobbering (probably) on his hand, her ass half-way in the chair and an ache in her back—when Tommy finally woke up.

A quiet moan crackled from Tommy's throat, but Felicity jerked awake, sitting up, her back cracking. Her ponytail had shifted to the side of her head behind her ear, and half the long blond locks were loose and tangled. She fell asleep with her glasses, and now she had sore spots and red marks in her face were they dug in while she slept. She took them off briefly to wipe the grit and sleep from her eyes before she settle them back onto her nose, palming the (not) slobber from her chin.

She looked around in a second of confusion before she focused on the Omega. She held her breath and grabbed his hand as she saw his eyelids fluttering, working to open them.

"Tommy," she murmured gently. One hand still held his, the other gentle rubbed up and down the same arm; encouraging him. Blue slits cracked open, staring dazedly up at the ceiling. "Hey, Tommy. Hey,"

The blue slits focused on her and she exhaled breathlessly. "'Licity..."

"I'm right here. You're in the hospital, Tommy. You're fine. You're both safe." She looked into his eyes so she didn't have to see the split lip, nose, brow, cheek or bruised cheek and black eye.

His face scrunched up and tears filled his eyes. He inhaled sharply. "They... I don't—my baby!" his throat chocked up with halting sobs.

Felicity only paused a moment in rubbing his arm to quickly pressed the call button before she went right back to it. "You're both alright, you're both safe. You fought them, Tommy, until help could come—you protected her. You saved yourself."

Tommy tossed his head back and forth on the pillow, tears running down his cheeks. It hurt to cry, but he didn't know what else he wanted to do. He reached up with shaking hands and put them on his stomach, bawling.

"Shhh." Felicity stood from the chair, and carefully lay on the edge of Tommy's bed, and held the Omega, tucking his head under her chin and against her chest. She gently petted his dark bangs from his forehead. "You're both safe."

It was a few minutes later that the doctor and a nurse appeared. By that time, Tommy had at least worked through some of it and was left with the occasional hitched breath, post sob-hiccups, and stray tears. Felicity carefully extracted herself at the company, disregarding her own appearance at the moment, helped Tommy drink some water and wiped his face; and then took a step back to let the professionals check him over while she fixed her hair and tried to at straighten her clothes.

When they were finished, instantly Felicity stepped back to him and he squeezed her hand tightly. The nurse stepped out and they were left with the doctor. She was older, probably in her forty's, and Tommy knew an Omega. He was glad for it, because right now, so soon after, he wasn't sure how he would reacted if she was an Alpha—and male. She started off small…

Concussion, abrasions, luckily no broken bones and miraculously no fractures either. There was bruising, a lot. Particularly at his back. Her two biggest concerns (yes, _two)_ were… _. One_ —his kidneys: they were fairly bruised in the attack, they wanted to keep an eye on their functioning and his urine output, making sure he wasn't peeing any blood. It would be painful, but he was only allowed a low dose of pain medication to at least take the sharp edge of it off because of his pregnancy, how far he along he was, the stress of the attack that was put on the both of them after the attack. And two, Tommy was most frightened about two. _Two_ —was that while doing the ultrasound when he first came into the ER, they'd found some free-floating fluid in his abdomen around the baby. They wanted to do frequent ultrasound checks to make sure there wasn’t more, and to be sure that placenta abruption didn't occur because of the attack. He was on strict bed rest. But otherwise, the baby appeared in good health. No injury, strong heartbeat, good movement.

He and the baby were both hooked up to EKG machines. And the two weeks (at least) that they wanted to keep him at the hospital, he would rely heavily on his baby girl's beautiful, strong, little heartbeat for assurance.

The doctor soon left them, and they sat in silence, processing. They talked quietly, Felicity give the Omega reassurances that everything was going to be alright; his baby was just as strong as him, and she didn't know anyone stronger. Tommy took all of it, needing all of it as she rubbed gently, soothing caressing circles on his stomach, lulling the exhausted Omega to sleep. All the while he ached for Oliver, for his arms around him, his hard and soft edges, to hear his voice, to _see_ him... to be swamped by his pheromones: honey and black pepper (though the first time she left the hospital and came back from the apartment, she brought with her Oliver's scarf and that at least was something).

He woke again in the afternoon and the head of the bed was rose a little so he could eat the light soup that was brought to him, which also reminded Felicity that she was not the robot that needed to simply be wound up again by a key in her back, so she gave herself ten minutes to go to the bathroom then shoot down the to hospital cafeteria.

They talked a little while they ate, though Tommy was pretty quiet.

He needed to give his statement to the police, and then some more personal calls needed to be made.

**aRRow**

"Detective Lance," Tommy grimaced a little. He couldn't help it. He was exhausted and this was the last thing he needed. It was an instinctual cringe that turned into one of pain at the stagnate-familiar Alpha pheromones from a time that he'd rather not remember, but somehow was always brought up—yes, by him, but he had very little to compare things to. Felicity was back to rubbing his arm soothingly.

"Mr. Merlyn." Lance took him in with a single glance, his face a professional mask.

Quentin Lance was the last person that he expected, but he shouldn't have been. Why not kick a guy when he's already laid up in the hospital, stressing over the health of his child? Why not add the parent from a past, very awkward, grief-twisted, torrid Heat affair that he had with his daughter?

It wasn't like Lance very much liked either Oliver or Tommy from the beginning since they were teenagers, but he thought Lance tolerated him more because he wasn't fucking his eldest daughter only to cheat on her with his youngest. But then that first year after _The Queen's Gambit_ went down, and they were all a little fucked up—then it was Laurel fucking him, for a week.

And Tommy definitely became second top to Quentin's hatred of the presumed-dead-Oliver-Queen.

Tommy honestly wasn't sure who was more horrified by the coupling—Quentin or Malcolm. Oh, and that pregnancy scare... it would have been hilarious if it hadn't been so fucking scary to the Omega. That was the first and only time the two Alphas put aside their dislike of each other, to work together to separate their children. But they needn't have worried; that Heat-ed mistake between them, ruined whatever real kind of relationship they might of had that wasn't twisted in grief and anger.

"So, tell me what happened last night...."

With shaky voice, Tommy recounted what happened the night before; Felicity’s own chest tightened much as it had done with Roy in the waiting room, but much worse (and though not the point right now, though her mind briefly went there at the reminder; she was going to have to find a way to thank the other Beta somehow, though she knew nothing would ever be enough for the appreciation that she felt toward him for saving Tommy).

When he was finished, Lance gave him a moment to collect himself as he wrote in his notebook and Felicity handed the Omega drink of water—though he wanted something much stronger, but hadn't had anything alcoholic since the night Malcolm kicked him out. Actually, he was pretty sure the last drink he had was in Hong Kong or was it the flight back home?

Lance was sure the only reason that Tommy has survived so far, was because of the blond Beta at his bedside. She might be a small package, but he'd already experienced a little of the force that was to be reckoned with. And now he had another blond Beta in his little entourage.

Tommy gave a brief description of his three attackers and Lance showed him a six-pack card of mug shots and Tommy immediately identified his attackers. Lance had him mark the boxes and then sign at the bottom.

The Alpha detective packed up his things, wished Tommy a well recovery and healthy child, and departed with the news that he was probably going to have to talk to the police again at some point.

"Alright?" Felicity asked gently.

Tommy took a careful breath. "As okay as I can be," he fingered the black scarf that she had brought back for him (among a few other things), and attempted a subdued smile.

"Everything will work out in the end. Right, little genie?" She whispered, rubbing his stomach gently like it was some magical genie lamp and it even encourage a small chuckle out of the Omega. "Speaking of," her blue-eyes got a little gleam in them, "That a pretty name..." she said suggestively.

"Oh, no! No way, that is so a hooker's name." He smirked at her pout. "No, I already have the perfect name

"Really?" she perked up. "What is it?"

His smile turned sly. "It's a surprise."

She pouted again, but then a moment later that gleam returned. "Well," she addressed his stomach pointedly. "I'm just going to call you Little Genie, until I can wheedle it out of your father. It'll give me something to do in the meantime,"

**aRRoW**

For one insane moment, she actually thought of calling Malcolm Merlyn to inform the Alpha that his son and grandchild were in the hospital. But thankfully, it was a brief bought if insanity and vanished quickly. Malcolm had no business in Tommy's life anymore, he was cut off from the Omega, not the other way around. If ever contact was made again—that would be Tommy's decision alone.

Thea was the first obvious call, Tommy insisted, even as it was after 9 o'clock.

As soon a Felicity said 'Tommy' and 'hospital' in the same sentence, Thea first thought that the Omega was going into labour almost a month early. It was still December and the baby was supposed to be due in early January. She started rushing around, grabbing things, happy, gleeful, some concern—only to stop dead in her tracks after Felicity continued with 'attacked last night,' and 'police.'

She couldn't wait for a driver, so she stole one of the cars from the garage. She'd just gotten her learners permit, Felicity and Tommy had been helping her with it, though the Beta was definitely more helpful. It didn't matter that she wasn't supposed to be driving alone. And nearly everything the pair pounded into her about safety went out the window as she rushed to get to the hospital, though hopefully not ending up _in_ the hospital. But she made it in one piece and ran to the nurses desk—and was decidedly more loud than Felicity had been.

Thea didn't give a shit about visiting hours and rules. She was a Queen, and in this situation, she wasn't afraid or ashamed to throw the weight of her family name around—especially if it got her access to her surrogate brother and niece.

And that was how she ended up standing at the foot of the bed, wearing a miss-matched pair of shoes. Well, at least the design of shoe was the same, it was colour that was mismatched. She would have noticed if she was wearing a flat v. a heel, she was sure. But in her state, probably not. Whatever, stupid teenage girl worries that meant nothing!

She whimpered as she saw him. "Tommy!" tears welled in her brown eyes.

"Speedy," he whispered, and held open his arms.

She dove into his arms in the gentlest way possible, very _aware_ of his injuries and how careful she was to be. She cried into his neck in fear and relief and trembled a bit with the anger she felt for the three Alphas that did this to him. He held her, and she hugged him, gripping his hand, carefully bringing the babe in his stomach into the hold, but not before they dragged Felicity into his other side as well, a cuddle pile of comfort and safety.

Queen Privilege allowed her the night, but by earlier morning as for Felicity's call, there stood Moira Queen.

"Mom?" Thea groaned, groggily. She leaned up on an elbow, one-side of her hair flat. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"It's still another week until Christmas Break, Thea." The older Alpha answered. "You're going to be late to school."

"Aw, mom!" she protested just like a teenager. "But I want to stay with Tommy!"

Moira raised a single brow at her daughter. "You're going to school, Thea Deardon. You can visit after school. Now go wait in the car, Gordon with drive the car you took from the garage back to the house."

"Fine." The teenager grumbled. She sighed. "Bye, Tommy." She carefully hugged the Omega, and even Felicity, before she left.

"Oh, Tommy." Moira stepped to the side that Thea had vacated, as Felicity slipped from the bed and into the plastic chair. "How are you doing? Ms. Smoak told me what happened when she called about Thea." She took his hand and brushed his bangs from his forehead in a motherly gesture.

Tommy was like a second son to her. Moira knew Tommy was an Omega the first time Oliver brought him home when they were children, despite the Suppressants that Malcolm clearly had him on. He'd always been a sweet boy. She hadn't been all that surprised when Thea told her that Malcolm had kicked him out—especially when the young man decided that he was 'coming-out' as an Omega, or at least that he was going to stop hiding his true dynamic. But what did shock her, was that it was partly because he was pregnant.

He squeezed her hand gently. "Thea's visit helped. It's good to be around family. Don't be too hard on her for not telling you she was leaving, or driving here last night. She was just worried."

Moira paused for a split second. "I won't."

She surreptitiously Scented him. The perfume of his pregnancy was strong, especially now that he was so far along. She could still smell Thea after her recent departure. Felicity was a stronger and long standing Scent, as subdued as the Beta's pheromones were. It was understandable, with how close and how much time the two spent together and with each other. She could smell the faint emotional bond that she didn't even think the two were even aware of.

But beyond that, on the edge, a far more faint and distant Scent permitted from the Omega, or perhaps from an object or item near. The Scent of the baby's other parent. She felt hollow woeful yearning at the Scent, deep down inside her, in her womb.

Moira leaned down and kissed his unbruised cheek. That Scent was faintly stronger here. She spotted the black material that clearly wasn't part of his gown, and pulled it out from behind his shoulder as she stood.

She petted the soft cotton material. "Omegas are more sensitive to the cold." She mused. "That's usually why they like to nest and cuddle, to share the body heat and for the company."

Tommy's finger twitched and he barely held back the urge to snatch the scarf out of her hands like he had with Felicity a couple months back. He swallowed the lump of fear. Would she recognize Oliver's Scent? Would it be changed for her as it has been for him? "It's a comfort item... the father's." His voice croaked.

"It's hard to have a nest in a hospital." She handed it back, and he took it with relief, the material slipping through her fingers. "Goodbye, Tommy."

Tommy clutched the scarf to his chest, his breaths a little panicked. Did she know? Did she realize? What would happen if she discovered that it was her grandchild, that Oliver was actually alive—before Oliver came home to Starling like he'd promised.

"Tommy?" Felicity asked worriedly. She remember how he had reacted when she'd found it, and the scent on it had been much stronger. Now, after her bringing it from the apartment in her purse, Thea, and the smells of the hospital, the Alpha’s Scent would probably be nearly all flushed out by now, and with Moira's Scent as well? As far as she knew, besides Little Genie, that scarf was the only other thing of the unknown Alpha from Hong Kong that he had and he was losing it rapidly. She rubbed his shoulder comfortingly as his eyes glazed with unshed tears, pushing his nose into the scarf that was quickly just becoming just that, a scarf.

Out in the hall, Moira Scented the tips of her fingers. The new touch scent overpowering all else for a fragrant moment before fading. But she tasted it in the back of her throat, swirling around her nostrils—and she stopped in her tracks in the middle of the hall. Very few things hit her so dramatically. When she discovered that she was pregnant with Thea. When she received the news about _The Queen's Gambit_ and realized the dirty truth. And this.

Alphas couldn't so much as _Scent_ the unborn pup's parentage (other than the carrier), as sensed instinctively the kinship of relationship. It wasn't until the pup was born, where it would take on, or imitate their parents' Scents until it hit puberty and came into its dynamic and developed its own unique Scent.

The Alpha in her instantly recognized the Scent of her and Robert’s first born pup. Oliver Jonas Queen. How was that possible? He was dead. But the Scent was as fresh as at least within the last year, depending on the activity of the scarf. Did this mean that Tommy's baby was Oliver's?

The boulder that had been weighing on her hard for the last three-years all-but vanished. She didn't know how, but Oliver, her baby, was alive.

Taking one last breath of her son before his Scent completely vanished, she continued down the hall and out to the car waiting out front. She got into the back seat next to her daughter.

"Mom?" Thea asked in concern. "Is everything okay? Did something ha—"

Moira took the young Alpha's hand. "Everything's alright, honey. Perfectly alright."

**aRRoW**

Carly came for a short visit too, the next day, with Diggle in tow and bearing gifts. One in particular, a box of chocolate, a very yummy comfort food.

But surprisingly of all, was Roy. Tommy kind of expected to never see the Beta again. He never was able to thank him for saving the two of them. But then a couple days later after the Omega woke, there was the young man. Scuffing the boundary of the shared hospital room with the toe of his shoe, hands shoved deep into the same red hoodie, despite the chill outside.

Tommy spotted him through the open gap of his privacy curtain. "Hey," he blurted in surprise.

Roy's blue-eyes flared wide for a moment at being seen, before they returned to their half-lidded, narrowed, I-don't-give-a-shit-screw-you design. He took a deep breath and stepped into the room, going to Tommy's empty bed-side.

"Hey," he said briskly. "I forgot to give this to your roommate/best-friend/girlfriend/baby momma chick or whatever." He thrust Tommy's wallet out to him.

Tommy blinked at it for a moment in surprise. He'd totally forgotten about loosing that, it was actually the last thing on his mind. He took it from the Beta and flipped through it, not that he thought Roy stole anything or something. The wallet itself was more expensive than the contents in it. Of course, the ultrasound picture from the appointment where he found out he was having a daughter, not to mention the picture of Oliver, were of sentimental value far superior. He smile softly at the pictures.

"Thanks." Tommy beamed at him.

"Okay. I'll just..." he threw his thumb over his shoulder and started to turn.

"Wait!" Tommy blurted and the Beta turned back. "You can stay... if you want." He was kind of lonely, and bored, and he wanted to get to know the young Beta. He didn't have come and save him, and he certainly didn't have to come all the way back to return his wallet.

"Uh," Roy was undecided and awkward for a moment, before he shrugged again. "Sure." He took the hard plastic chair that Felicity interchanged for the more comfortable computer chair at QC. "I’ve got noting else to do."

After that, he came almost as frequently as Felicity did, which was every day. She worked at QC, her usual day-shift, stopped shortly at the apartment, then came to the hospital. That was when Roy came, during the day, then usually left when the other Beta came:

"Don't you have a job?" Tommy asked over the fanned cards in his hand propped on the little bed table between the two of them, little over a week into this arrangement. Any awkwardness between them fell short a few days into it.

Roy glared into his own hand. "Do you know anyone hiring a delinquent with a grade 10 education and an arrest record?" he shot back.

"I could talk to Carly. She's the manager at the Big Belly Burger where I work or worked—I'm still not sure—it's definitely not paid-leave. Huh." He gave his head a little shake. "Anyway—"

"Anyway," Roy agreed. "Don't you think I haven't tried that? No one trusts me behind the register, I can't cook worth shit, I ain't cleaning other peoples messes the rest of my life. The only thing I'm good at—is stealing and kicking the shit out of assholes."

He placed a eight on the pile, changing the suite from spades to hearts, and then proceeded to place down three more cards. "Maybe I should just hire you to be my bodyguard." Tommy said jokingly.

Roy was quiet for a long intense moment, his expression determined and decided as he looked from his cards straight at the Omega. "Alright."

Tommy blinked at him. "Alright, what?"

Roy drew from the deck and placed a card. "I'll do it."

"What?" he scoffed, incredulous. "I don't need a bodyguard!"

There was nothing funny or amused about the look that the young Beta sent him. "You would have died if I didn't happen by chance to find a 1.75 change in my rotted-out couch and decide to use it to be a Big Belly Buster Single, and eat it while walking down that exact block."

"Yes, thank you for that, by the way." He said very sincerely.

"Mm-hm."

He glowered, "But I still don't need a body-guard. I was a billionaire and I didn't need a bodyguard. I'm poor now—see the irony?" he picked up a few cards.

"Fine." Roy shrugged nonchalantly, slumping back in his chair. "It's your turn." He added casually, "I'll just talk to Felicity about it."

"What do you mean 'talk to her?' Like I'm some kid and she'd my parent? I'm older than _you_ , Roy. If you hadn't noticed."

Roy rolled his eyes. "Not like that. I mean, like... She totally owns you."

Tommy sputtered. "She—She does not!"

"I've never seen someone more whipped in my life—and sex isn't even involved!" he crowed, hooting. "I think you're getting the short-end of the stick, my friend."

Tommy glared at him with pouty lips as he slapped a card down with more force than necessary. "Just play a card, Harper."

x—x

"I can't believe the little weasel _actually_ went you!" Tommy was gob smacked.

Felicity snickered at little at his reaction, her leg crossed over her knee. This chair really was going to cause her back problems in her old age. "To be honest, I was a little surprised to—but he was very adamant... and he had a fair point if I really think about it."

"A fair point?" he scoffed. "What exactly is he guarding me against?" he demanded. "I'm stuck in this stupid hospital bed for two more weeks. I'll probably already be in the hospital when I go into labour." He shoved back the instant anxiety _that_ thought brought up, and focused instead on his anger now.

"He's totally my unofficial gofer now, too." She grinned. "Like my very own on-call personal assistant. If we're paying him, I totally want to get something out of it. I'm busy, I don't have four hands and arms, as useful as that might be."

"So, now, instead of coming to visit me because he wants to as my friend—he getting paid to." The thought was like bile on his brain.

"You know that's not true," she admonished him.

"I know." He grumped, feeling resentful and guilty for it, but he was just so frustrated.

"Tommy," she whispered, "When I got that call and they told me you were in the hospital..." she shook her head rapidly, "My heart dropped out of my chest. I was so scared. I didn't know how hurt you were. I didn't know if you'd still be alive by the time I managed to get here."

Tommy swallowed the lump in his throat. She pushed her glasses up and wiped the tears from her eyes, there was dark bags under her eyes from lack of full sleep and stress. Because of him. He gritted his teeth around the swell of bad and self-directed emotion.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that," he whispered. "But I'm not weak, I'm not helpless."

"I _know_ you're not. You're one of the strongest men I know!" she insisted instantly, and she meant every word. "That's not what this is."

"No, he just a glorified babysitter. I can't work at the Big Belly Burger in my current condition, and by the time I'm healed I'll have a newborn on my hands. I'm having the baby here in Starling General, there's no reason for me to go to my mom's clinic. There's no reason for me to go back to the Glades period. What danger can I be in?"

"I just want you to be safe. To know that you're alright. You, and the baby."

Tears brimmed his eyes suddenly. "I want—" _Oliver!_ he gritted his teeth to stop himself from crying out the Alpha's name. God, he missed his best-friend in life so much. At the moment, knowing he was alive and not able to be with him, seemed ten-times as worse than never having him in the first place with no chance of having him at all.

He rubbed his stomach as he felt his baby kicking. "I know," he hushed. "Soon."

"Tommy?" she asked softly.

"Okay. Alright." He said finally. "But only until _he_ comes back."

Felicity nodded, knowing exactly who he was referring to. She bit the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from asking the nagging question. Who was this Alpha from Hong Kong? Lately she'd been too busy worried and scared and frankly exhausted over Tommy to think on it. It was Tommy's business, not hers. But it was at times like this, seeing Tommy so yearning and wanting for the Alpha, that made the computer genius want the track this mysterious Alpha (who's identity nagged at her from the back of her mind with unknown suspicion) down just so she could smack his round the face and scream at him: _what's the hell's wrong with you?_

If she wasn't so exhausted at night, it'd probably keep her up at night. ~

[tbc]

**aRRoW**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #1: Yay! More characters introduced. What did you think? Quentin Lance [Alpha] and Roy Harper [Beta] (and a little shot of Moira Queen [Alpha]). I think I did Lance pretty good, but I'll probably say that Roy was more OOC. Well? Don't be shy! :P For some reason, after writing Roy in the waiting room, I had trouble writing Felicity. Huh...
> 
> So - some clarification for --In Life's Omega'verse world:
> 
> Alpha Males & Alpha Females can get pregnant together, there is just a slimmer chance of conception. Alpha Males & Alpha Females can both Impregnate Female Betas, Female Omegas, & Male Omegas. Alpha Females have a better chance of getting pregnant by Beta Males. Male Omegas can only get pregnant by either Alpha Males or Females & only while in Heat. Omega Females can get pregnant by Alpha Males, Alpha Females, Beta Males. But in Heat, all they crave is an Alpha Knot, & only can get pregnant during Heat by an Alpha. Beta Females can get pregnant with Alpha Males, Alpha Females, & Beta Males.   
> (Alphas only Knot in Rut which is triggered by an Omega in Heat, otherwise, it's a normal penis with a sponge-like base where the Knot forms. Female Alphas penises can still get erect no matter the partner, but only Knot for Omegas as well.)
> 
> Alphas: Oliver Queen, Thea Queen, Moira Queen, Malcolm Merlyn, John Diggle, Laurel Lance, Sara Lance, Quentin Lance, Slade, Shado.  
> Betas: Felicity Smoak, Roy Harper, Carly Diggle, Maeso Yamashiro (&family), Robert Queen, Dinah Lance, Rebecca Merlyn, Amanda Waller,  
> Omegas: Tommy Merlyn, Raisa, Original Character(s)
> 
> #2: So, here are some deleted bits for this chapter. Whatever, I'm posting them here; it's the only way they'll see the light of day:  
> *  
> "My Secret Sugar Momma!" he grinned and kissed her knuckles. "What would I do without you?"
> 
> "Well, I guess you do make pretty good arm-candy." She teased.
> 
> "Only pretty-good?" he said, mock-wounded.
> 
> x~
> 
> Roy Harper was born a Beta. Being born a Beta made him 'ordinary,' his dad didn't want an ordinary son—but he'd always had exceptional Scenting skills.
> 
> Growing up in a household with an aggressive, drunkard, gambling addicted Alpha father, who might snap at the littlest thing, made deciphering his pheromones key in giving him at least a little head-start in defence. 
> 
> Having an Omega mother and Omega sister, it helped him to know when their Heats were coming. They were too poor to afford the Heat Suppressants by prescription. Dad disparaged the Omega Center. Always said to his two girls that it made them seem weak, Omegas weren't weak. So they wore their dynamic with pride. 
> 
> His sister found a great Alpha that took care of her and took her away from the Glades. When his dad left, his mother turned to drugs and one night when he was 15, he came home and found her over-dosed. 
> 
> x~
> 
> "Felicity Smoak. Room-mate, best-friend, the baby's aunt, Baby Momma." She said, fast-passed and in one breath. "I'm Tommy's Emergency Contact."
> 
> He only blinked once. "Detective Lance." 
> 
> But now Felicity was the one that was blinking rapidly behind her adjusted glasses. "Lance? Laural Lance's dad?"
> 
> "You know my daughter?" now the detective showed some surprise.
> 
> "Well... no." She said awkwardly. "Not personally, at least. I've heard a lot about her over the years though, second-hand. Tommy and she—" she waggled her hand.
> 
> "Tommy—" Lance stopped. "That's who was attacked?"
> 
> "Oh, my God!" Felicity cried out suddenly. "Tommy. Is-is he alright? Do you know? The baby? He— She—" she turned to Roy. "Do you? Y-you were there. You saw..."
> 
> Roy gulped. "It was pretty bad. But he seems like a tough guy. He held his own against those bastards. It was just their numbers that overwhelmed him." 
> 
> Felicity made a little whimpering sound in the back of her throat and grabbed tightly onto his arm in her stress. 
> 
> x~
> 
> Diggle came in sometimes and took Carly home. He even drove Tommy sometimes if it was the end of his shift, now that they lived in the same building and were friendly because of Carly. 
> 
> ~#~  
> P.S: I went back and did the same for Chapter 3 and Chapter 5, if you want to flash back and check those out—readers choice! :)


	8. On the Nail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~ Tommy goes into labour, just as there's a big homecoming ~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Spoiler: As promised, a few chapters later—and Oliver is back. And some Pilot episode tidbits.

This was the best belated Christmas present he could of asked for—being released from the hospital. He was mostly healed, or at least the worst of his injuries were now minimal. They weren't concerned with Rebecca Meghan's health anymore, there didn't appear to be any more free-flowing fluid in his abdomen. The splits, cuts, scrapes, and abrasions were just scabs now. His black eye was better. His kidneys were still tender though, and there was still yellow bruising on his back, but it was faded. He was still on limited bed-rest, which was partly because his kidneys were still healing, and the fact of how pregnant he was. But after spending Christmas in the hospital, and New Years, too, he was finally released.

He didn't care that his due date was estimated in about a week. Tommy just wanted to sleep in his own bed, not smell like a hospital... hell, fart without having to be conscious of five other pregnant women surrounding him (though he was pretty sure they did their fair-share; being pregnant was a very gassy business). He just wanted to close his eyes and not worry.

But in the long of it, the Omega should have expected not to be allowed to immediately go to his cloud-mattress:

Felicity had hold of both of his hands as she carefully lead him blindfolded through their apartment, backwards.

"You know, I've been blindfolded a lot with this scarf over the last year." He remarked. But then sighed, "Sadly, only one of them lead to sex." Felicity snorted in front of him. "This is one kinky scarf!"

"Ew! I don't want to hear about your sexcapades!" Thea exclaimed from another room, followed by Roy's snort.

"It was supposed to be a surprise," Felicity complained to the Alpha and Beta.

"It's a good thing that they ruined it then," Tommy deadpanned, "I'm one shock away from having this baby, I suspect."

"Don't be so dramatic," she rolled her eyes. She rubbed his stomach briefly with their connected hands, "She knows exactly when she's going to be born."

Tommy smiled. "And besides... if it grosses you out, Thea, then that mean's I'm doing it right. I've got to practice at being a good parent on someone, and you, Speedy, are my unfortunate lab rat."

"If you keep telling me about your weird sex-kinks," the young Alpha shot right back righteously, "Then I'm going to tell you about—"

"Lalalalalala!" Tommy shouted immediately, childishly, dragging his and Felicity's hands to cover his ears and drown the teenager out.

"Alright, alright." Felicity scolded them, "I think one baby is quite enough around here, I don't need two more." She dragged their hands back down and finally drew the Omega to his destination. "We're here—and won't shout surprise just in case."

Tommy pulled the scarf from around his eyes and down around his neck as he was always want to do in these situations. The perseverance of Oliver's Alpha scent had finally given out, but the scarf had still been his and Tommy took comfort from it like any security blanket.

"Holy shit!" Tommy exclaimed, looking around the pink baby's room, that was no longer just a blinding-pink box that would drive even the toughest criminals insane. It was completely furnished with the some of the stuff he'd been able to get, and more of the stuff he'd never seen before. All set up, all in working order. A crib, changing table, dresser, shelves, even a rocking chair and all the things in between. There were pictures on the wall, a nice plush rug on the floor, and mobile over the crib. Tears pricked his eyes, it was better than anything he could have done himself.

"No swearing in the baby's room!" Thea told him. He gave her a look. "What? I'm being proactive. In fact, you shouldn't swear at all since you're always _with_ the baby. They can hear you in the womb, you know?"

"Holy poop just doesn't have the same effect," he deadpanned.

"Why not try... Holy cow?" Roy suggested helpfully with a grin. He was in his classic red hoodie. The only difference with this one, was that it was newer, a Christmas present that Felicity and Tommy had gotten him, for the one that was ruined while saving the Omega. He'd tried to refuse it, so Felicity just went to him really intensely, making the Beta pause, before she just reached forward and tore the tag off, threw it in the trash, and dusted her hands off before she sat again. No Returns! He was stuck with it and it wasn't like they hadn't seen him in anything else.

Tommy sent him a glower. "Holy cow." He monotoned.

"Gold Star for daddy!" Felicity pressed one onto his cheek promptly. Tommy slowly raised a brow at her. She blinked. "Two...?"

His lip twitched. "Two." He agreed. She gave him another Star on his opposite cheek.

The two grinned at each other and laughed. They found the Beta and Alpha staring at them, open-mouthed and blinking rapidly.

"What the heck kind of sex-game is this?" Roy wondered.

"Lalalala!" Thea promptly clapped her hands over her ears.

"Okay, alright. Calm down, everybody." Felicity pulled Thea's hands down. "I'm weird. I thought we already knew this? I like to give out very platonic rewards. See?" she stuck a Gold Star on the tip of Thea's nose, and the side of Roy's square jaw. "Job well done on the room, you two." She beamed at them.

"Wait." Roy held up a hand. "I'm still getting paid, right?"

Felicity sighed heavily. "Yes, Roy. You're still getting paid."

"Cool." He stuffed his hands in his red hoodie, slouching back and totally pulling off the sticker on his face like any Abercrombie model.

"This is what you two have been up to?" Tommy asked them.

"Yep," Thea grinned proudly. "Roy was the brawn, I was the brain."

"Hey!" Roy protested. "Who the hell exports do-it-yourself handyman shit to America but doesn't add English in the instructions?"

"Well, it's good at least one of up knows French, then isn't it?" Thea gave him a cheeky grin with dimples.

"Just shut up and let me thank you guys!" Tommy's chuckle was a little watery. He quickly pulled the both of them in for a hug.

Felicity may or may not have snapped a picture with her cell phone before she clapped her hands. "Is this a Welcome Home Party, or a hugging orgy?"

"Aw, God!" Thea protested, pulling away from the hug. "Now you've just made it weird."

Roy shrugged from his arms as well; he'd only known them for a month, and already the hugs were adding up, but he didn't mind them if he was being honest and not telling anyone about it. He'd basically been on his own since his mom died. He'd dropped out of school at sixteen, with his Grade 10, at least, and stayed well out of the crosshairs of Child Services—no way was he been going to get shoved in foster care to rot there until he was eighteen. So he made it on his own, with a fake I.D. until it wasn't a real necessity, but got him better access than actually being eighteen did. And now he'd been caught up with these guys, and well, he couldn't find himself going anywhere else soon.

"Felicity!" Tommy whined, turning to her. "You've shown me the addiction of hugs, now you take away my hits? Not fair!"

"Oh, whatever." She waved a hand dismissively. "We'll cuddle later if you stop whining. Now away to the kitchen, I've made food!" she took his hand and pulled him from the room.

"Oh, my God, you two are so weird!" Thea called after them, but she was smiling. Things had definitely become happier since Tommy became pregnant.

"You know you love it!" Tommy and Felicity both called back. ~

**aRRoW**

_"I_ will _come back home to Starling City. To you._ Soon _. I love you, Tommy."_

Tommy woke up with a cry of pain, jerked from his dream in the late morning. The shock of it had him arching off the bed as much as a man nine months pregnant could. He collapsed back fast, panting, tense, until his twisted insides loosed and the pain eased. He groaned, laying wide-eyed in the sunlight leaking through his cracked shades. What the fuck was that?

He lay in bed for several long moments, fear riding his heart like a galloping steed, but no further pain seemed to be coming. He threw his covers aside and planted his hands, intending to get up, when the mattress and sheets underneath him squelched lightly. He gulped at the lump in his throat. Either he pissed himself, or—

"Felicity!!" Tommy screamed. A moment later there was some crashing from the bedroom across the hall, a door slamming open, then his own flew back against the wall and the Omega was briefly blinded by the bedroom light.

"Tommy?" Felicity had clearly been abruptly awoken, same as him. She was in her cute little sheep pyjama bottoms and a baggy tee that would swallow her one night if she wasn't careful. She fumbled to put her glasses on her face. "What's wrong?" she instantly went to his side.

"My... I think my water broke." He said faintly, plucking at the wet-darkened sheet beneath him. "Holy fuck, my water broke!"

Felicity's blue eyes widened in pure panic behind her glasses, before she stowed that, and her eyes narrowed into determination. "It's alright, Tommy. We've been expecting this the entire time you've been home. We'll just change and get the bag, and head to the hospital. They said that we shouldn't wait because after your attack and things are definitely different with male Omegas."

"You're telling me!" he snorted, his voice slightly high from definite panic. She took his hands and helped him from the bed. Tommy had taken to wearing a muumuu because really, in his condition, and where he was basically in bed all day anyway, what else was there? Felicity stripped him out of it with not even a blink of her eye.

"This is clearly an unfair, one-sided situation that I clearly think you're taking advantage of." Tommy mused because he needed a distraction before he had a completely freak-out that HE WAS CURRENTLY GOING INTO LABOUR! "How many times have you seen me buck naked these last few months and I haven't even gotten a little side-boob action?"

"Yes, I derive great wank-bank materials from these little trysts," she intoned dryly as she held out some clean boxers for him to step into.

He smirked, his hands planted on her shoulders to steady himself. "It's unconscionable, it was it is."

"Right." She grabbed some track pants with an altered elastic around the waist. "You get ogled and I get scarred for life."

"Lies!" He exclaimed with mirth. "You're totally gonna miss dressing me—I certainly will. It brang back great memories of when I was rich." She shook her head.

He pulled a t-shirt overhead, as big as the one that swallowed the Beta, but became tight-fitting on him. She crouched down and pulled his boots on and he put a zipper-sweater on as well, that didn't zip at the moment.

She stood and yanked the wet sheet off the bed and crumpled it, tossing it across the room near the hamper that she had gotten him so he'd stop putting his dirty clothes in hers under the illusion that she wouldn't notice and wash them so he wouldn't have to—that really would bite them in the ass later if it soaked into Tommy's beloved mattress any further.

She disappeared to her own room, and he waddled from his to the living area to wait at the door like a dog waiting for its master to take it on the promised walk. He pulled on his new winter coat and wrapped Oliver's scarf around his neck.

Five-minutes later, she was dressed, her hair pulled into a ponytail, sans makeup, purse in-hand and carrying his go-bag (that they had packed already before he was attacked).

"Ready?"

"N—Agh! God!" he shouted, his hands scrambling for purchase, on something as a cramp took him again—a contraction, he realised now—any thing to keep him upright.

Felicity dropped the stuff and instantly grabbed his arms, as he returned the grip on her elbows with almost bone-grinding strength. She managed to somehow prop him against the small table by the door where they put their keys and the mail and other junk. It creaked under his weight but stayed stable. She made him do the breaths, trying to help ease him through it; he returned the favour with gritted teeth.

So focused on Tommy, she didn't notice her phone chirp with the alert that was still on her personal network about anything related to Oliver Queen. In fact, had she simply turned on any news channel, or radio station, she might have sooner discovered that Oliver Queen was alive and returning to Starling City as they spoke.

Finally, after several long moments, Tommy was left gasping. Felicity watching him with concern. "That contraction came pretty fast," she'd read that they were usually hours apart to begin with. Felicity’s mother never let her forget that she went through an entire 36 hours of labour to get her into the world. But maybe for male Omegas it was supposed to be like this, or just Omegas in general. They were specifically made to take a Knot, to breed, so it would stand to reason that they faced easy births—but she couldn't stop the concern that something could be wrong, especially with the attack that Tommy was _still_ healing from.

"The sooner we get to the hospital, the better." Tommy stood a little shakily, definitely thinking on the same lines as the Beta.

Felicity picked the bag and her purse bac up, putting her arm through the straps, then took a steadying hold on the pregnant Omega and lead him from the apartment. They made it the elevator ride down and settled into the car, before he had another contraction half-way to the hospital. And she may have drove just a little faster.

Taking in his pale, sweating complexion, his shaky form, the nurse behind the desk got a wheelchair and immediately admitted him. This time around, he got his own room. Felicity helped change him into a gown, but he kept the scarf and settled him into the bed. The nurse hooked him up to some fluids and then went to page his doctor, the same Omega that had treated him before.

And then they were just left to wait. Tommy gritting his teeth through another contraction, gripping the rail in a white-knuckle grip, and probably crushing Felicity smaller hand with his other. But she took it like a Beta, and cooed comforting things at him and the baby as she gently rubbed his stomach.

"This'll be fun, won't it?"

He glared at her. "When we're in this situation again, expect your the one in labour, I'm going to say that to you—and you'll have to stifle the urge to strangle said person as well."

"What are friends for?"

It was almost an hour later and five more contractions with no sign of the doctor that Tommy had enough.

"No way is this baby coming out of my asshole! I need that for... other things." _More pleasant things_ , he thought of Oliver, _definitely more pleasant._

"Alright. I'm going to go find a nurse, okay?" besides, her hand needed a break before it become some indistinguishable lump of flesh and crushed bone.

"Doctor!" he shouted after her, "A doctor, Felicity!"

Felicity did find the nurse, and told her about the frequency of Tommy's contractions. The nurse assured her that the doctor was on her way. Felicity gave a sigh of relief, and then shovelled some guilt onto her consciousness as she stole a few minutes to herself—that may have included stepping outside and asking to bum a smoke off a male nurse taking a smoke break.

She smiled appreciatively as she ducked into the flame from his lighter, almost groaning with that first inhale of nicotine that had been years in a subdued dark craving in the back of her mind. She furrowed her brows as she looked at the crowd and activity at the main entrance of the hospital, but not just any crowd.

"What's with all the reporters?" she asked.

The guy raised a surprised brow at her. "You didn't hear?" she shook her head. "You only have to look on the internet and it's top news. You know that billionaire's boat the sunk a few years back and everyone on board was declared dead?" her heart went in her throat, she knew immediately. "Well, apparently, the son, Oscar—"

"Oliver," she mumbled automatically.

"Right, Oliver. Well, apparently, some fishing boat found him stranded on an island. He's being flown in today and brought here to Starling General."

The cigarette gently burned in her raised fingertips, her arms wrapped around herself in the cold, the smoke rising almost serenely until it dissipated. If this was true, and it had to be for this circus to be happening in the freezing cold of dead winter—what exactly could this mean? All the forgotten dots that had been scattered like an upturned Chinese chequers board after Tommy had been attacked, morphed on the interchangeable board and played connect-the-dots, slowly and almost hypnotically as she stood in shock.

"These vultures are all idiots," he gave a chuckle, "If they think he'd going to be brought in through the front. Stuck on an island for _five-years_?" he shook his head, ashing. "Like they're going to allow any sort of physical scrutiny." He paused and leaned a little closer to her, whispering conspiratorially, "There's talk amongst the nurses that Queen has already landed and a entire hall of rooms has been cleared for privacy and moneys sake." The nurse snubbed the cherry of his cigarette on the brick wall before flicking the butt into the provided ashtray post against the wall. "They're going to get frostbite and I'm going to have a fun afternoon." He walked down the shovelled walk, stomped his feet at the entrance from any clinging snow, shot a wave to the cameras, and disappeared inside.

It was like a buzz in the back of her head. It seemed an impossible thing, yet it was happening. Her cigarette was a slightly curving stalk of carefully balanced ash between her fingertips. A sudden gust of wind caught her, disintegrating the ash. She put the butt in the butt tray and dusted her frozen fingers as she headed back inside to the warmth. Now, all she had to do was tell Tommy. On her way up, she took out her cell and sent a text to Thea—telling her that Tommy was in labour, and asking about Oliver, if it was true before briefly scanning the first article that popped up: _Oliver Queen is alive. The Starling City Alpha was found by fishermen in the North China Sea five days ago. Five years after he was presumed dead following the accident at sea which claimed The Queen's Gambit. Queen was a tabloid presence and fixture on the club scene. Before his disappearance, he was acquitted of assault stemming from a highly publicized drunken altercation with paparazzi. Queen is the son of Starling City billionaire Robert Queen a Beta who was also on board but now officially confirmed as deceased..._ and it just went from there.

Tommy was in the middle of another contraction when Felicity returned, stalled in the doorway, stuck in shock. "Felicity?" he panted when he saw her. "Did you find a nurse? I thought the doctor said that she was going to do a C-section, why is she waiting?"

"The nurse said that she was on her way." Felicity told him numbly. "And that your contractions are still at least 12 minutes apart, so there's time."

"Time?" he complained, "This is probably what those guys from _Alien_ went through." He lifted his head and looekd at her, "Felicity?" he furrowed his brow. "You sound weird."

"Tommy." Felicity took a sharp and deep breath, shaking herself into a better, more active headspace. "Tommy," she went to his bedside. "I was just talking with someone..."

"Yeah," he deadpanned, "I can smell the cigarette smoke from here."

She made a face. "Sorry. I just—"

He shook his head and sent her a little grin. "It's fine. So, you snuck off and were talking to a cute guy...?"

She rolled her eyes, but gave him a serious look. "There's a bunch of reporters outside. The nurse I was talking to, said it was all over the news—"

Tommy looked at her in confusion and not a bit of anger. "Is this because of me? They're so board that they find a disowned and unbonded, until recently repressed Omega Merlyn top headline stuff? You know, honestly, I'm kind of surprised this hasn't happened sooner." He scoffed in disgust. "The last time I was in the tabloids was when _The Gambit_ went down nearly four years ago. And before then, it was only ever for stupid shit that Ollie dragged me into. Not to say that I wasn't a willing participant. Can't they get their kicks somewhere else?" he demanded.

"They're not here for you."

That stopped him. "They're not? Oh." Maybe that had been a little pretentious of him. "Wait—Why are they here, then?"

"Tommy," he watched as she seemed to square-herself, watching him closely. "Oliver's alive."

"What?" he jolted in surprise. Wow, Oliver really did have great timing. Or maybe it was Rebecca Meghan. Felicity did say she would know when she was to be born. Right when her other father dropped back into the world from the land of the dead. "—Agh!" he gritted his teeth through another inconvenient contraction. He took several exhales and inhales, gripping the railings as she continued to keep a 'professional' distance. "What did you just say? How do you know?" he managed to grit out; yeah, that was what he was supposed to say.

"It's all over the internet. He was found on an island by a fishing boat."

Tommy almost stopped breathing. The island that Oliver had been marooned on for two years after _The Queen's Gambit_ was shipwrecked at sea, before he was 'rescued' and then drafted under duress into a shady government agency that tried to turn him into an assassin. But if Oliver was last in Hong Kong, how did he end up back on the island?

"The nurse said that he already landed and on his way here, to Starling General."

Tommy squeezed his eyes shut tightly. "He's back." He whispered quietly to himself, just to hear it out loud. Unconsciously he touched his stomach. "Ollie came back." He gave his head a little shake, running his hand over his face and wiping away the collected sweat and maybe was inconspicuous tears; he needed to focus. Oliver was back. He sunk back into the bed, for the first true moment since he'd gone into labour, the panic was gone.

Felicity watched him carefully. Her sifting and sorting. Through all of her suspicions since he came back from Hong Kong. His half-answers and half-truths. His evasions. Coming back to her with one story after another. When he'd come back from Hong Kong, it was true that he seemed subdued, sad, lost in thought—nothing like she might have thought when the Omega discovered that the best-friend in life he believed to be alive even after three-year, discovered that he was indeed dead. No, instead he met an Alpha; said exactly this: " _Like I knew him, but he was a stranger at the same time."_ How many times had the Omega slipped up and almost say his name? It was staring her in the face this entire time!

"Oh, my God!" Felicity shouted with the realisation. "You knew he was alive!" her mind swirled with too much information, past conversations and reactions that seemed off but not overly suspicious resurfacing. Things that seemed so disconnected, it was like a spider web of dots that were connected. How could he have kept such a revelation to himself? How could he think that he couldn't trust _her_ of all people?

She looked at him in astonishment, and unable to help it, betrayal shone in her blue-eyes behind her glasses.

He tried to sit up, managed to at least get his elbows under him. "Felicity—" the guilt was clear, through the pain and sadness.

"After." She said sternly. "You're gonna have this baby, then we're going to sit down—and you're going to tell me _everything_ this time. What really happened in Hong Kong." Her eyes flickered pointedly to his stomach.

Tommy nodded, breathing heavily through his nose, lips pressed tight. "I will. I promise." He hoped and dreaded for this day to come. Oliver was finally home, but what about the secret that he kept for so long? This was Oliver's pup. How long would it be before people made the connection?

Felicity sat back in the chair, but despite the close proximity to each other, the silence was a distance between them, one that had never existed the entire time they've know each other until now.

His next contraction, it was like none of the others. He yanked the scarf from his chin and stuff it into his mouth to stifle _the scream_. He writhed, tears streaming down his face.

"Tommy!" she cried out in horror, all the other drama forgotten instantly. She cuddled him, tried to hold him, making soothing sounds, brushing the plastered bangs from his forehead, rubbing any part she could touch. It was a long horrifying moment before he slumped back.

"I don't think that they're supposed to be like this." He whimpered, twisted onto his side, trying to _curl_ in on himself because it felt like he was being _torn_ apart on the inside. His belly felt _heavy_ , but not the kind that he'd become used to with the baby, that comfortable, right weight. This, it was just... _wrong_.

His lips felt numb and fingertips tingled. He felt nauseous and... wet. He moaned, whimpering.

"I'm going to get that doctor now," Felicity growled, standing. "I will drag her here if I have to." She stormed towards the door, and nearly walked into the very same doctor. She took a deep breath—"Something's wrong." None of her anger, frustration, or fear matters; Tommy's did.

The doctor nodded and instantly told the nurse behind her to get out the ultrasound, while she went to the ailing Omega, curled up on his side. "Mr. Merlyn, can you tell me how you're feeling?"

"I think my water broke..." he mumbled.

"Tommy," Felicity soothed at his side again as the nurse brought over the ultrasound machine, petting his hair. "You're water broke at the house, remember?"

But Tommy shook his head. "Again."

The doctor pulled the blanket down and they revealed wet sheets underneath. Felicity was scared and confused; a water can't break twice.

"Mr Merlyn—Tommy," the doctor said instantly, in a both a gentle and commanding tone that only doctors could pull off. "Do you think you can lay on your back for me?"

Tommy moaned softly, and slowly forced himself to uncurl, shifting onto his back on the wet mattress. The doctor settled the blanket around his hips, covering him up and pulling his gown up to his chest, exposing his stomach. The nurse squirted the gel onto his stomach, and he barely twitched at the cold, before she handed the doctor the ultrasound wand. The doctor pressed it to his stomach, a concentrated look on her face.

Felicity squeezed Tommy's hand, looking at the screen, but unable to discern anything herself, the tiny heartbeat coming through, but it sounded different than last time. She focused on the doctor instead. The Omega woman wore a pretty good neutral mask, to be a doctor, the Beta figured you would have to, but the slight down-ward tick at the corner of her lips gave Felicity clue to her concern.

"What's wrong?" Tommy croaked.

"Tommy—" she handed the wand off to the nurse. "We're going to get you to the OR immediately for your Caesarean Section." The grip the Beta and Omega had on each other, simultaneously tightened at her words. "It appears from your last contraction, the placenta has separated. It was a concern after your attack. The strength and strain of your contractions must have enacted the separation. The fluid leaking from your rectum isn't your water, its the fluid from the embryo sac. We need to get your baby out before she suffocates."

The doctor and nurse were a tornado of activity as they took the breaks off the bed and took the IV bag from the stand and put it at the head of the bed. Felicity was forced to separate form the Omega.

"Can't I come?" Felicity asked anxiously.

"I'm sorry, ma'am." The doctor told her. "We're going to have to put him under, and immediately see to the baby. You'll be able to see him in recovery."

"Felicity?" he asked, panicked as they started to wheel him out.

"It's alright, Tommy. Everything's going to be okay!" she called after them.

She sat heavily in the chair behind her, her knees shaky. She sniffed and palmed the tears from her eyes. Her cell chirped with a reminder and took it out, really needing the distraction. It was a reply from Thea that she missed, that simply said: _Call._ Wiping her nose with the back of her hand, she keyed the Alpha's number and brought the phone to her ear.

Thea picked up on the second ring. " _Felicity_?"

"Yeah." Her voice croaked. She cleared her throat. "How are you, Thea? I just heard the news."

" _Yeah_." There was a long silence on the other end. " _I just talked to mom. She's already at Starling General. Ollie should have gotten there about half-an-hour ago. I can't... I don't know what to think, or feel. How is this possible, Felicity? How can he be alive? How is he home right now?"_

"I don't know," Felicity told her honestly. And she wouldn't until she had that talk with Tommy, but right now, not even that mattered at the moment. Just as long as Tommy and the baby made it, she couldn't care less.

" _I haven't seen him yet, mom won't let me come to the hospital, I can still hardly believe it. No, scratch that. I don't believe it. I don't think I will until I see him. Anyways, I need a distraction_." Her tone gave way to excitement, " _So, did Tommy have the baby, yet? How is he? The baby? Can you send me a picture!"_

"Um, Thea…" Her voice sounded clogged, and she tried to swallow the lump.

" _Felicity_?" Thea whispered anxiously, the excitement drained from her as she instantly detected the distress in the Beta's voice. " _What's wrong?"_

"There was a complication... the doctor said it was because of the attack last month, that it compromised the integrity of the embryo sac. They had to take him into the OR right away or the baby would suffocate." Her throat was clogged with suppressed sobs.

Thea's breath hitched. _"I'm coming right now_."

"No, no. Your mother said to stay away from the hospital."

"I won't go anywhere near that floor. I'll be with you—and Tommy."

Felicity shook her head. "You need to be there for your brother when he gets home, you both deserve that. Tommy and the baby... They're both strong. They've been through a lot and survived. Now is going to be no different."

Thea growled in frustration. " _At least call Roy. You shouldn't be alone!"_ the Alpha protested.

"Okay."

_"Take care of them, Felicity."_ Oh, God. Thea didn't even realize that it was her niece that they were talking about, blood-related.

"I will." She hung up and slumped back into the chair. She carded her fingers through her long blond hair still in its pony, tangling it. But she didn't call Roy, she needed the room and time to _think_.

**aRRoW**

And it was true, four floors up, Moira Queen stood out in the hallway, having just received a text from Thea informing the Alpha that Tommy was in the hospital, too, with Felicity, and there were some complication with the labour because of his attack a month earlier.

She briefly closed her eyes, and took a breath, centering herself before she opened them again and approached the doctor waiting outside Oliver's private room. He was an older man, balding, and a Beta.

"Twenty-percent of his body is covered in scar tissue..." the doctor didn't pull his punches and it just went on from there. Broken bones healed improperly. Burns. Her heart broke all over again as she looked through the open doorway to her son.

He stood at the bay of windows in a hospital gown done up in the back, close-buzzed hair, and a scruff. Gone was the boyish youth she'd last seen with his dark-blond 'model hair.' Now, stood a man. He stared out into Starling City, blanketed in snow, light flurries falling even now in the afternoon sun.

"I know you're happy to have your son back, Mrs. Queen," the doctor told her, following her gaze, "But he might not be the Oliver you knew."

"He is my son, that's all I need to know." Her tone was dismissive and he knew it. With a nod, he left. Moira hung back in the doorway, observing the Alpha for a minute more.

Being on Lian Yu the last three months with a self-imposed exile after what happened to the Yamashiros, had let Oliver lay more firmly into his Alpha nature, even compared to the first two-years he'd been washed ashore. And finally, being back here, he was very _aware, cautious._ Being back in Starling City, was not the same as waking up in Hong Kong and believing himself rescued, saved. Amanda Waller had slowly attempted to chip away at the old Oliver Queen, while at the same time, preying on his humanity to get him to do her bidding. Of course, Tommy coming to Hong Kong had reminded him of the reason why he was fighting to get home. But it was also his humanity that had saved billions of lives, but also caused the Yamashiros to pay a grave price, but at least Amanda Waller paid for her sins on the matter as well.

He knew his mother was there, he could sense the Alpha. He saw her step into the room through the reflection of the window that he stood in front of, gazing blindly through a moment before, trying to settle in his old skin. But he was sure that he couldn't be blamed if he was a little off after spending three-years on an deserted island. No on could know that he was involved in Hong Kong.

"Oliver?" she called softly.

Oliver slowly turned. Ever since he'd stepped from the ambulance that had taken his directly from the airport, to the hospital, and he'd been escorted in around the reporters and in through the back, just something inside of his was set on edge. "Mom." He smiled softly.

"Oh, my beautiful boy." Tears shone in her eyes. She wrapped her arms around her and he willingly went, hunching over slightly as he buried his face at the juncture of her neck and shoulder, just like he did when he was a kid seeking out the comfort of her scent. Oliver Scented her now, sifting through the her perfume to her natural fragrance that was her true scent.

Moira was surrounded by a stronger version of the Scent from Tommy's scarf, the _father's_ scarf. She had known for nearly a month now that somehow her son was still alive, she'd just never been able to find the proof. It was just a certain belief rigged on a fading scent on a black scarf and an unborn pup.

Oliver had long ago forgotten Robert's scent. Whenever he tried to remember it, all that came up was the smell of the decomposing body he'd finally managed to at least bury on the beach of the island. He tried to search for his father's scent now ( despite knowing that it would be three-years faded, but hoping there was still something of Robert’s scent in the Alpha’s own), but instead he picked up another man's that brushed and danced with her own. It was familiar in a way like he'd had smelt it in passing a number of times years before the island and when he was younger. It wasn't Alpha, it proclaimed to be Beta—but it was similar to what Tommy's scent had smelled like when he took his Heat Suppressants with Scent Blockers. This was an Omega scent on Blockers. His mother was courting an Omega.

Finally, after several long moments, the two Alphas parted from the hug, but Moira didn't let her son get to far. She cupped his face. "Look at you," she murmured, her thumbs caressing his bearded cheek. "My precious boy. You've grown. You're hair…"

"Mom," he chuckled lightly, taking a hold of her hands in both of his. "I'm alright. I’m home."

Moira nodded, taking a deep breath. "You should sit. You must be exhausted." Oliver let her lead him over to the bed and sat down on the edge with her. She held his hand. "The doctor wants to keep you overnight."

"Mom," Oliver shook his head. "I just want to go home. I want to see Thea."

"I thought it would be better if your sister stayed at home, give you a little space. Give you a little time to adjust."

"Yeah." He swallowed and looked at her. "Mom, how... how have you been? Dad, he..."

"I loved your father, you know." Moira said quietly. "And when I heard the news, that I'd lost you both... if I didn't have Thea to think about, I would've been completely broken. But I—"

"You've met someone," Oliver murmured.

"Oliver—"

He shook his head. "It's okay, mom. I understand. He's been gone for almost four-years. It's okay for you to move on. It's just weird. The last I saw you, you were telling him to be safe, you were in love. Now you're with another man."

She nodded. "Walter is an amazing and caring man. He's good to me, and to Thea."

"That's good."

There was a moment of contemplating silence between the mother and son.

"The doctor said you haven't talked much about what happened—"

Oliver shook his head. "I don't want to talk about that now, if ever. Please, mom?"

She took his hand from his gowned lap and squeezed it reassuringly. "Alright, sweetheart."

Oliver gave a grateful exhale. He just wanted to get out of this hospital, back to the Queen mansion—to somewhere at least _familiar._ The unexplainable anxiety was tugging on the tether in his stomach, it made him want to move, to take action; but he didn't know what action against what target.

"Oliver, there's something you should know..." She could feel tense slightly at her words. "It's about Tommy." She watched him closely.

"Tommy?" he repeated, at complete attention. Tommy. Tommy had been on his mind every day, not just the time they spent together in Hong Kong. The Omega was one of the reasons why he fought so hard to not lose himself in all the bloodshed and darkness and guilt, why he retained himself, why he was here right now.

"I wouldn't tell you, not so soon that you've just returned, but I know how close you are." She continued, "Months ago Tommy took his father's jet and flew Hong Kong without telling anybody." She didn't miss the flash of guilt through his blue-eyes before he covered it up. She'd discovered Tommy's trip to Hong Kong, and Walter even mentioned to her that Heat Suppressants for Omegas were considered contraband and were taken away at customs. Tommy had stayed there for under a week, having taken Malcolm's Private Jet, but he returned on a commercial flight. His reaction subtle as it was, confirmed her suspicions that Oliver had somehow been in Hong Kong and was the father of Tommy's baby. Of course, the confirmation of this fact, lead to questions like: Why was Oliver in Hong Kong? How did Oliver get to Hong Kong? How did Tommy know to go to Hong Kong? How did he end up on that island? "When he got back, Malcolm discovered that he'd gone off of his Heat Suppressants and that he'd been with an Alpha. Malcolm cut him off and kicked him out."

"Malcolm did what?" Oliver exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "Is Tommy alright? Is he staying with you?"

"Thea offered, and I would have agreed, but he wouldn't accept."

Ollie scoffed. "That sounds like him. So... so where is he staying, then?"

"He moved in with a friend of his. I've met her a few times. Her name's Felicity Smoak. She's been over to the house with Tommy to visit Thea. I think that Thea and her have become friends, too."

Oliver's hands briefly clenched into fists, trying to contain the jealousy he felt. "Is she—is she his girlfriend?"

Moira was just able to contain the smile as she could smell the jealousy a mile off. "No, they're just friends."

"So... So Tommy's okay?" he asked, the jealousy leaking from him instantly and his shoulders slumped lightly.

But much to the Alpha's dread, his mother shook her head. "Oliver... Tommy's pregnant."

Oliver's heart stopped cold in his chest. "What?"

"Yes," Moira's eyes narrowed microscopically as she watched him in front of her. "It appears that that Alpha that he mated with during his Heat, got him pregnant. _That_ was the true reason that Malcolm tossed him out, or so Thea told me, because he refused to have an abortion like his father wanted."

Oliver was still, frozen. When he and Tommy... But how... He'd only Knotted once. Tommy had been with Laurel an entire week. But—if Tommy’s Heat had been as insatiable as it had been with Laurel, was this the reason why after he'd brought the Omega back to his room after Maseo knocked him out, Oliver no longer felt that deep seeded desire to _fuck-Knot-breed_. Because even as Oliver had packed his things, it was already happening, the seed had been planted. And Maseo had to almost literally drag him away because he just wanted to curl up with the Omega, feed the Omega, pamper the Omega. Without even realising it, Oliver started to pace in front of his mother. The least he was able to do was make sure Tommy was comfortable in bed, was leave him the scarf infused with his scent and leave him breakfast.

"He refuses to tell anyone who the other father is. I don't believe Felicity even knows." Moira continued, but then she paused, almost dramatically, but that wasn't the woman, it was for the pull-back on the punch line. "But we both know the father, don't we, Oliver?"

Oliver halted suddenly and slowly turned towards her, his face a hard mask before he forced confusion to filter across his features. "We do?"

Moira simply nodded. She stood and put a hand on his shoulder, it was tense beneath her. "Before I came in, I got a text from your sister. Tommy arrived at the hospital before you, in labour, but Thea told me there were some complications."

Oliver paled. "What kind of complications? Is he alright?" he demanded.

"I don't know, honey. That's all Thea told me."

"Mom, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Oliver growled.

And one moment from the next she watched him dash away, barefoot, and naked but for the hospital gown, out the door. But emitting his Alpha authority, no one dare attempt to halt him. This was a father on a mission, even if he didn't properly know it yet. He didn't know what room the Omega was in, what floor even; but she suspected that he could find the Omega through Scent better than he might have with a map.

Moira moved from the bed to the windows that Oliver had stood at, looking out into Starling City. She'd gotten her son back, she was gaining a grandchild. She sighed. And soon, would be the fight to keep them.

**aRRoW**

Tommy had been brought back to the room not 15 minutes before-hand. The doctor had told her briefly that the C-Section had gone well, despite the circumstance. They had caught it early, which was always good. And the baby appeared to be a healthy girl, that was currently residing in the nursery with all the other newborns, but under observation as a simple precaution.

Tommy was still unconscious from the anaesthesia from the surgery, it would be half-an-hour more, at least before the Omega woke up with a brand-new scar on his pelvis. Felicity had moved her chair rather subconsciously to the other side of Tommy's bed, her back no longer facing the bay of windows, but instead placing herself between the Omega and the door.

She sat, holding his hand, their fingers tangled. She alternated between brushing his bangs from his forehead and petting his hair, to rubbing his bare arm, even his chest and carefully his stomach. His stomach, that despite being without his baby any longer, was still extended and swollen, the 'post pregnancy fat'. It was like a little pouch. As she went back and forth between muttering to herself and making soothing sound for him. The unconscious action helped her think, it kept her active even in the Beta's inactivity.

Oliver was the other father to this pup, Felicity found that very clear at this point, even though there hadn't been a verbal confirmation as such for what had been a stressed and ailing Tommy. She felt guilty for badgering him in his state, but the need for answers that had been unconsciously overwhelming her over the past nine months burst before she could get control of herself; it was the high-stress of the situation for both of them. But when the world found out, what could they say? When Tommy became pregnant, Oliver was classified as dead. His claim was that he'd been stranded on that island for the last near-four-years, but now, in clumsy confirmations on the Omega's part, the Alpha had actually been in Hong Kong for some of this last year. Or at least, coincidently, the five-days that Tommy had been there. That email log-in was part of the equation, but she still didn't have enough (true) facts to see where it fit.

The few simple facts that she knew were: Tommy had gone to Hong Kong because of the email log-in; Tommy went into Heat in Hong Kong; Tommy mated with a Alpha (Oliver) in Hong Kong; Tommy had come home to Starling City, pregnant.

What she didn't know, was: Why and How did Oliver end up in Hong Kong, and then end up on that Island? If Oliver was in Hong Kong and Tommy found him, why hadn't Oliver come home with him? Why was Oliver back _now_ —

Felicity was on her feet, leaping from the plastic chair, knocking it back against the opposite wall (unlike Oliver's cushy private room, Tommy's was _just_ big enough to not be called a closet) as her body reacted even before she _recognized_ the Alpha that burst into Tommy's room, his donned hospital gown fluttering around him.

He stalled in the doorway, his breath heavy. The Alpha didn't even seem to _see_ her, he looked through her, and right at Tommy. She knew it was a bad idea to get between an Alpha and his mated Omega even if they were unbonded, but she stood in a defensive position, standing between the Alpha and unconscious Omega. It was a dulled instinct inside of her Beta-mind that had become enlightened from hibernation ever since she started to living with an (especially) pregnant Tommy.

Despite everything Tommy had told her, all the stories, from Thea as well, she didn't know who _this_ Oliver Queen was, because he certainly wouldn't be unchanged after being stranded on an island for three-years. She just couldn't trust someone like that who wasn’t.

He took a step forward—

"Whoa-ho-ho!" Felicity shouted. "Hold it right there, buddy!" her hand held up, palm facing outward, like a warding gesture.

Oliver stopped short, blinking at the small blond Beta in front of him, as if seeing her for the first time. She had on a defensive stance, a fierce look on her face. He automatically assessed her, Scented her. Tommy's Omega perfume, twisted deep with her own subdued scent. He faintly detected green apple underneath Tommy's vanilla, citrus and sweet Maplewood. She was not a threat against the Omega, but she was perhaps a wall set in the Alpha's path _to_ the Omega.

His shoulders stiff under the gown, Oliver forced 'the Alpha' back and reminded himself that he had to be human now, 'civilized' if he wanted to get passed the Beta to Tommy, because as a 'human' he knew that he simply couldn't tear through her to get to him.

"You're... Felicity, right?" that was what his mother said her name was.

Felicity blinked, surprised that he knew her name (while at the same time, the gruff sound of his voice sent a weird thrill through her; she'd always wondered after all these years, what his voice sounded like, she honestly didn't think it would be so gruff. But then she thought that might have to do with being stuck on a deserted island for nearly four-years, but let's not forget not the _entire_ almost four-years—and she was getting sidetracked!).

"Yes. And I know who you are." She took a deep steadying breath before she continued, "We need to talk before you go any further. We should clear the air, gain some understanding between us." He didn't move or say anything, so she went ahead. "I'm the only one that supported his belief that you were still alive, I'm the only one that helped him. I learned a lot about you, through him, over the last couple years. But I'd be stupid to assume you were the same person. To survive that long, on the island... in Hong Kong." The corner of his mouth tightened at the mention of Hong Kong.

"You don't have to worry," she told him. "Tommy didn't say exactly what happened when he went there, just that he went into Heat when his Suppressants were taken at customs, that he was kidnapped from his room—which I'm still not sure is the complete truth—and he let an Alpha Knot him. I literally just figured out that you were the father not two hours ago." She gave her head a little shake. "I know that you're his best-friend in life. I know that he loves you. He'll love you no matter what. And I'm not trying to stop that, that's not what this is. I just want—"

"Please," Oliver said sincerely. "Just let me go to him."

"I know I'm just a Beta, but if you do anything to hurt Tommy—"

"I won't," the Alpha swore. "Tommy is my best-friend in life. I love him. I love him more than proper words can define. I can't promise that I won't hurt him, or that he won't hurt me. That's an impossible task. But I promise you that it won't be intentional. I'm finally back. I finally have him. Anything that wants to hurt him, will have hell of a fight going through me." He swore vehemently. " _That_ is a promise."

Felicity hid the shiver well as she looked into his blue-eyes and saw the true promise of his words, the true threat that lay behind them. "I believe you," she whispered.

Oliver nodded, then his focus was once again beyond her, and on the Omega. He slowly stepped passed her, and towards the bed. He hesitantly reached out, his calloused fingertips brushing the knuckles of Tommy hands, almost as if testing to see if the man was really there. He let out a shallow, shuddering breath. "Tommy," he breathed.

He grasped the Omega's hand, caressing his cheek lightly with the other, thumb brushing across his cheek. He leaned down and pressed an (unbeknownst) kissed to the split brow that had just the other day, finally healed and scab free. He pulled up the chair that Felicity had flown from and sat at Tommy's side, holding his hand and petting the dark bangs from his brow.

Felicity leaned against the edge of the windows on the opposite side of the bed, her arms crossed lightly over her chest, as she gaze politely out the window, but could still see them in her peripheral.

After a moment, Oliver gently cleared his throat and Felicity glanced over to him.

"Can you tell me what happened?" he asked.

"What did you're mother tell you?" she wondered.

He returned his gaze to Tommy, and swallowed. "Malcolm kicked him out."

Felicity nodded. "When he refused to get an abortion." Oliver growled lowly at the repeated information and Tommy twitched at the reverberation. "He left Malcolm and came to me. I had to basically forced him to stay in my apartment." She snorted and shook her head. "He planned to stay just until he got his feet under him. I domesticated him, you could say, as he went out and found a job to support himself. He was saving up to move out and get his own apartment for him in the baby, but I found an apartment for the three of us instead. Our across-the-hall neighbour, Diggle, is great; he actually has a thing with Tommy's manager." She shook away the sidetrack.

Oliver nodded. "My mom said that Thea texted her that there was some problems with the labour?"

"Yeah..." Felicity swallowed against the recent reminder. "The placenta separated, and the embryo sac was leaking. The doctor took him to the OR immediately and did a C-Section. There were no complications."

"Why—"

Tommy leaned into the caressing touch, groaning lightly. It was the same calloused hand he had become quickly familiar and intimate with back in Hong Kong. It was the gruff and soft voices around him that were dragging him from a not unfamiliar drug-induced unconsciousness. His eyes cracked and he glimpsed Felicity by the windows, her arms crossed over her chest. He made a sound, groggily, confused (like if Felicity was all the way over there, who the hell was touching him?).

"Tommy?" Felicity straightened, taking a step towards him. "Hey."

"Mm." He turned his head almost floppily to the other side, and looked at the blond, blue-eyed man sitting at his bedside, holding his hand and petting his hair. "Ollie," he said, a dopey grin on his face.

Oliver smiled softly back at him. "Hey, Tommy."

Tommy grinned and blinked at the Alpha for a further moment. "Oliver!" he shouted in realisation. He went to (probably jump right at the Alpha), sit up, when he suddenly cried out in pain.

"Easy!" Felicity barked, instantly at his side, a hand on his shoulder.

"Tommy!" Oliver shouted in concern, half-way out of the chair. He helped ease the Omega back onto the bed.

Tommy's eyes flickered towards her. "Sorry," he mumbled, before he eagerly turned to Oliver at his bedside. "Ollie." So it hadn't been some fear induced hallucination that he had come up with to help tide the fear as he was quickly rushed from the room and into the OR. That was a relief to know. "Oliver," he gasped. "You're really here?" he reached out with his free hand, grimacing briefly, and cupped Oliver's cheek.

"I'm here." Oliver returned the gesture.

Tommy nodded, breathing heavily as he slumped back onto the bed. Tears suddenly clouded his blue-eyes. "God, Oliver—Either you triggered my labour, or our daughter dragged you back here. I don't know which it is, I'm just glade you're here." He chuckled lightly, pressing the heels of his hands briefly against his closed eyes.

"Daughter?" Oliver asked gently, wonderingly.

Tommy smiled and nodded. "We only found out a couple of months ago. I was putting it off. But, we had to paint the baby’s room something, and I couldn't not anymore." He turned to Felicity suddenly, animated. "Have you see her yet?" he asked the woman excitedly. "Is everything okay? I've been scared shitless for the last nine-months, now all I want to do is hold my daughter. I haven't even seen her yet, let alone signed her birth certificate."

"I haven't yet, Tommy." Felicity told him, squeezing his own gown-clad shoulder comfortingly. "But when they brought you back from your surgery, the doctor told me that she's doing very well, healthy, her lungs are good. There doesn't appear to be any affects from the abruption or sac leaking. They caught it in time. She safe."

Tommy let out a shuddering breath he didn't realize he'd been holding in, squeezing Oliver's hand. "Thank God."

"You did good, Tommy." Oliver whispered, brushing a stray tear from the man's cheek.

"I know that you want her Tommy, and I'll page the doctor to come check on you and bring her. But before that, the air needs to be cleared. There are something’s that need to be discussed and can't wait. I'm sorry."

The Omega closed his eyes briefly. He knew that, he did, but all he really wanted to do at the moment was see his daughter, _hold_ his daughter. He needed to see for himself that she was alright.

Oliver swallowed. "Do you have a name yet?" it was a good distraction as any, and the Alpha wanted to know what to call his daughter when he finally saw here.

Tommy opened his eyes, and there was a gentle smile on his lips as he nodded. "Yeah," he squeezed Oliver's hand, then took a hold of Felicity's with the other. "Rebecca," he murmured wistfully. Then he looked at the Beta, "Meghan—"

"Tommy!" Felicity gasped. "You gave her my middle name?"

"Of course I did." Tommy scoffed. "You're my best-friend, Felicity. I love you. You helped me like nobody else could. You didn't take any of my crap. You gave me a _life_ Felicity, away from Malcolm. You helped me keep my daughter." He gave his head a little shake, tears shinning in his eyes. "It's the least I can do. That, and I want you to be God Mother, if you'll accept."

"Oh, Tommy, you know I will!" she hugged him carefully, tightly.

Oliver tried not to be jealous at the exchange. At least Tommy didn't say "Best-friend in Life," that saved him some grief. Of course, he could never know about Tommy's life the past three-years, it wasn't like they talked much about it in the few hours they did spend in Hong Kong. And he could never expect to understand what had happened between the Omega and Beta in the past nine-months—while his own unknown child was growing in his best-friend.

"So, Rebecca for my mom. Meghan for Felicity. Merlyn," he made a face at the that. Tommy cleared his throat, then shot a look at Oliver, "... hyphen Queen. I mean, eventually." He added quickly.

Felicity nodded. "Oliver is the father after all. I don't know how long you're going to be able to hid it."

"I'm not staying away." Oliver agreed gruffly.

"And can you really hide it from Thea and your mother?"

"I think my mother knows as well," he admitted slowly.

"She—" Tommy started, but stopped. He couldn't be all that surprised about it. He sighed. "She must have recognized what was left of your scent on the scarf back a month ago at the hospital." Why hadn't she said anything? Why hadn't she demanded answers about her son if she knew?

"She would recognize—" Oliver started then stopped. "Why were you in the hospital a month ago?

Tommy paused, and so did Felicity, even. They stared at him.

"Moira didn't tell you?" Felicity asked, her gaze flickering briefly to Tommy. They shared a fast look.

Oliver stared at her for a moment before he looked at Tommy. "Tell me what?"

Tommy attempted to brush it off. "I was in less danger than you were... over there." Felicity made a derisive sound. Tommy sent her a glare.

"Tommy." Oliver pressed.

"Oliver," he insisted. "You've just gotten back. We haven't even met our daughter yet. It's not important. I'm fine now. Rebecca's alright. I just want us to be together."

Oliver let a harsh breath out of his nose, his mouth in a hard line. He turned his gaze across the bed to Felicity. It was a silent question, a invisible command.

Felicity had her own determined, defiant look on her face as she looked at Tommy before addressing the Alpha. "He was attacked a month ago, walking to the bus stop by three Alphas." Felicity said clearly.

"Felicity!" he snapped, but then grimaced as he jolted. He gave her a low, reproving growl and she glared right back. He pointedly turned to Oliver. "I'm fine, Ollie. Roy saved me, he's became a good friend." Oliver seemed at least slightly appeased at that, that someone had come to his and his daughter‘s resuce. Tommy reached up and cupped the Alpha's nape, his finger petting the prickly hair there. "The Alphas that did it, were arrested and in jail. They'll never touch me again." Tommy applied a slight pressure, pulling the Alpha closer. "Hey," he whispered.

"Hey," Oliver mumbled.

"You came back,"

He nodded. "And I'm not leaving again."

"Good, neither am I." Tommy pulled him in the rest of way, pressing their lips together in a slow, open-mouthed kiss.

Felicity averted her gaze awkwardly. And tried not to catch glimpses through her peripheral. Though, admittedly, it'd been a while since she'd gotten any. And it was a thing that wasn't mentioned that she may or may not have returned that certain _Walking Dead_ D.V.D. that Tommy had ordered on-line a couple years ago with certain sexually proclivities, wonky plotlines, and parody elements.

She cleared her throat, and they finally broke apart. Slightly breathless and flushed. Admittedly, it made Oliver look less hard-edged. "Right," she said, "So, when it does eventually come out that you're Rebecca Meghan Merlyn's other father, people will start to question how exactly that happened, seeing as you were dead at the time." Felicity stated bluntly. "Oliver, could your mother really have made the connection with just your fading scent on an unwashed scarf? Or, could she have, just like any reporter with half-way decent investigative skills, connect the time of Tommy's pregnancy to his trip to Hong Kong? Just a few greased palms and they could have the flight manifest."

"No one can know about Hong Kong, Tommy." Oliver whispered. "We were lucky to get out of there alive. Some people weren't."

Tommy remembered the family that Oliver mentioned that were being held over him. "That family—" Oliver shook his head, his lips pressed so tightly together that they almost disappeared palely, a haunted shadow in his eyes. "Felicity, I trust her. She can help us."

He was quiet for a moment as he looked into Tommy's eyes and saw the unwavering truth of that fact. He looked over to Felicity, who had on a set expression, and devotion screened behind the glare of her glasses. He turned back to the Omega, and nodded.

[tbc]

**aRRoW**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally forgot that I mentioned Walter Steele in chapter five, so I decided to put a little something of him and Moira in this chapter, and declare him an Omega! ;) [Moira shags him when he goes into Heats, and he shags her the rest of the time; fun facts!] I can't help but not be happy with the scene with Oliver and Moira in his hospital room. Perhaps the entire rest of the chapter after that, too. Please, just review and tell me that I didn’t completely kick this story in the balls? I don’t know, I just felt I had a difficult time trying to write Oliver after being with Tommy for so long. So, please…
> 
> P.S: So, here are some deleted/altered bits for this chapter. Whatever, I'm posting them here; it's the only way they'll see the light of day:
> 
> *  
> A.R.G.U.S. had synthesized the bio weapon. The Alpha-Omega components, combined, made a deadly mixture. A super virus designed to kill billions; but not just any billions. It was a select virus that targeted Alphas and Omegas (hence the name), and left Betas virtually unscathed but for temporarily lingering (bird) flue-like symptoms. Because Betas weren't 'controlled' by base natures like Alphas and Omegas; they were intelligent, practical, partial. A.R.G.U.S. was run by Betas. 
> 
> xx
> 
> Moira is in a still new, dating/courting relationship with Walter Steel, the whatever of QC, and an Omega who takes Scent Blockers, but not Heat Suppressants. Moira shags him when he goes into Heats, and he shags her the rest of the time
> 
> xx
> 
> "It's a good thing you made me go to that Boy Scouts camp for those couple summers when I was a kid. Who would have predicted that they would actually come in use?”
> 
> xx
> 
> Oliver had been very aware his surrounding these last three-years, being on the island for two-years had drove him to acknowledge and access his base human instinct of survival, and meeting Yao Fae, Shado, and Slade reawakened his Alpha instinct for pack and protection. Being in Hong Kong for those six months, around civilization but secluded to the sidelines, seeing Tommy, being with Tommy---
> 
> xx
> 
> Felicity was on her feet, leaping from the plastic chair, knocking it back. It scraped and skittered across the tile floor briefly, and hit the opposite wall a short distance away. Her body reacting even before she recognized the Alpha that bust into Tommy's room, hospital gown fluttering around him. The Beta went defensive, standing between the Alpha and the sleeping Omega, before she relaxed slightly as she recognized the man. "Mr. Oliver Queen."  
> Oliver blinked at her, as if seeing her for the first time, his eyes trained on Tommy---
> 
> xx
> 
> "You seem to know a lot about me. When I know so little about you."  
> *


	9. Felicity '(God) Momma Beta' Smoak, Hacking Genius and Cleaner of Rich-People Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~ "Rebecca Meghan Merlyn... hyphen Queen. Eventually, I mean."  
> Let's deal with the implications of this. ~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Agh, writing babies! I usually just end the story after they're born so I don't really have to deal with it, but that won't quite work with this story, so I suppose you're all happy. Here I go with this—Hopefully, I won't have to write a toddler or something. But we'll see where this takes us, I guess. My biggest chapter yet, Welcome to the return of some missed characters!

Felicity finally paged the doctor and Tommy waited anxiously and impatiently for her to arrive. He tried to sit up, but it was half-way aborted with a grimace. He growled at the Beta and Alpha when they tried to 'scold' him and make him lay back down. They compromised with the head of the bed slightly raised so he wasn't completely horizontal.

Something happened between them when he was still unconscious from the C-Section, and he didn't know what it was. But at the moment, he had bigger things on his mind. He wanted to pace, he wanted to move. His body ached, he wanted to fall asleep but he felt wired… and then a dreaded realization hit him

"I've never held a baby before." He blurted, his blue-eyes wide as he looked between Felicity and Oliver.

"Yes you have." Oliver reminded him. "Remember Thea? You held her as a baby. With mom supervising, of course."

"We were ten, Oliver!" Tommy protested. "Ten!"

"That still counts." Oliver was so close to pouting that Tommy would have kissed him if he wasn't having a mini-freak-out.

"You'll do great, Tommy." Felicity assured. "Like Oliver said, you know how to hold a baby. Plus, I'm sure it'll be an instinctual thing—"

"I feel that that doesn't really help me." He groused.

Felicity fought back the sigh. "You're just working yourself up." This wasn't the first time she had to quell an eruption of panic from the new-founded Omega/parent. At least this time, she had some back-up.

"I'm a parent, Felicity. Oh, my God, we're parents, Oliver!" Tommy freaked, grabbing the Alpha. "How did this happen? We have a kid!"

"When two people love each other very much..." Felicity started murmuring quietly, lightly amused.

"Not helping!" Tommy barked at her, but the corner of his mouth twitched amid his 5 o'clock shadow, and the corners of his eyes were less tight.

Oliver gave him a small blink of surprise, before his expression settled into one of calm and comforting. "Tommy, this is not something new—at least to you. I only found out an hour ago. You've been doing everything a parent should. You've got an apartment, job, you set up the baby's room and got everything she needs. You're everything a parent should be."

"Yeah..." He said slowly and looked at the Alpha. "How are you not freaking out right now, Ollie?"

"I am, Tommy. Believe me. This is more nerve wracking than the last four-years, and you know about that." He flicked a glance at Felicity before turning back to him. "You're going to be a good father, Tommy, a parent in general. I see how you are with kids, I've seen how you are with Thea." He caressed his cheek and he leaned their foreheads together. "And you're going to put all of that towards our daughter."

Tommy searched his eyes for a moment, before he let out a big exhale (perhaps) right in Oliver's face—who somehow didn't even twitch a little at what must have been morning-breath, or all-day-breath coupled with after-surgery-breath. Being away must have hardened him to the core. Tommy remembered the pregnancy scare that Oliver had with that Beta when they were still teenagers, he remembered his own pregnancy scare with Laurel—he was pretty sure that they were reacting way better about an actual pregnancy this time round. He inhaled the Alpha' strong pheromones and smiled. "You're going to be a great father, too, Oliver." They shared a brief but meaningful kiss. "Sorry about the meltdown."

Oliver gave a like chuckle. "Next one's on me."

This time, Tommy didn't have to worry about sending Felicity out in search for the doctor like some kind of bloodhound; it was only a few minutes after his new-parent spaz that the doctor turned up.

The Omega doctor only paused briefly as she registered the Alpha in the room. She didn't recognize him form the frequent visitors the Omega had while under her charge that last month. But she said nothing even as she silently noted that he seemed familiar to her but she couldn't make the connection at the moment, and went straight to his bedside on Felicity’s side.

Felicity allowed her room, but didn't go far. The Alpha stayed his place, holding the Omega's hand, on-guard.

"Tommy, how are you feeling?" she asked, unassumingly putting on a pair of latex gloves.

"I want to see my daughter." Tommy told her instantly.

She nodded. "Just as soon as I check your incision, I'll have her brought right in." She sent a brief glance at Oliver. She pulled back the blanket low on his hips and pulled up his gown, revealing a white bandage the expanse of his pelvis.

Tommy gave a little grimace, as despite the numbed area, he could still feel the tape of the bandage pull at the happy-hair beneath his bellybutton and the pubes beneath as the doctor peeled the bandage back.

The doctor checked the incision, gently touching the edges with delicate fingers. Naturally, it was a little swollen, tender, and red. She carefully wiped it with a swab before replacing the bandage. "Everything looks good. There will be a scar," she warned, "But like the one from your appendectomy, it'll fade until its nearly invisible."

He couldn't see it right now from his half-reclined position (and he was sure he'd probably grouse about it later), but he did notice Oliver's subtle reaction to the sight of it. Tommy was sure that it wasn't because it was 'bad,' but because it was an 'injury' on the Omega in general. He gave the Alpha's rough-palmed hand a slight squeeze.

"I don't care about that." He brushed it aside instantly. "Felicity said that everything went okay, that Rebecca's doing fine?" He needed to hear it again, to hear it from the doctor.

The woman nodded. "Yes, you have a perfectly healthy baby, Mr. Merlyn. I'll bring her to you right now."

Tommy gave a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

The doctor left, and he was already antsy. His daughter, their daughter, was here in the real world. She was a true tangible thing. And he was going to get to hold her for the first time.

"Holy shit!" he gasped suddenly, surprising the Beta and Alpha with his outburst.

"What is it, Tommy? What's wrong?" Felicity asked instantly.

Tommy looked at her with a humongous grin. "I'm going to hold my baby for the first time, Felicity."

She drolled, "If it weren't for that grin, I might've of said déjà vu." She chuckled. "As it were, I'm going to record every sappy moment." She took her cell phone from her pocket.

x—x

Tommy could just _sense_ Rebecca Meghan even before the doctor pushed the plastic bassinette through the door. It was just a thing inside of him that told him his little pup was _right there_. Tommy held his breath, his eyes trained solely on his daughter. He didn't think he was the only one.

"Here we are," she murmured as she halted at Tommy's bedside, aligning the cart alongside. His eyes were riveted as he watched her bend over and scoop up the little pink bundle. He sort of just froze as he looked at her in the other Omega's arms, waiting for him.

"Tommy," Felicity sighed lightly, and reached across and adjusted his arms like he was a mannequin in a window display. "He's just a little nervous." She told the doctor. The doctor just smiled knowingly before she settled the baby against Tommy's lightly reclining chest and into his awaiting arms.

Tommy automatically responded as he felt the light, warm weight of the baby. He instinctually adjusted, carefully not to jostle the lightly dozing pup. She was the weight in his arms that had been missing inside him for the last several hours, and instantly, the nervous energy and anxiety simply vanished and he felt calm and happy to have his child in his arms, his Alpha at his side.

"Hey, baby girl." He murmured gently, his lips brushing against her capped brow as he pressed a gentle and loving kiss there.

He glanced over at Oliver as the Alpha shifted from the hard plastic chair, to perch his hip on the side of the bed, one arm around the back of the Omega's shoulder and one gently shaking hand reached for the baby. Oliver swallowed. He didn't deserve this, he was sure. His finger gently, bumped across her little nubby toes from the foot that had somehow escaped the swaddle she was wrapped in, as they were wont to do. The little leg gave a little jerk, ticklish and sensitive and just do damn fucking tiny. He laid his hand over Tommy's, tangling their fingers where the other man was holding her.

"She's beautiful, Tommy." He whispered.

"Oliver," Tommy laid his head against Oliver's shoulder, as they both gazed upon her with Felicity smiling, and as promised, her phone up. "Look at her."

The doctor gave a sharp inhale as she finally recognized the handsome face with the name; but she made no comment. Every parent, every patient of hers deserved their privacy. She was going to have to bee more careful with the nurses that she put on the roster for the Omega and his baby. The last thing they needed was a circus in here, the vultures circling.

_It was all you,_ Oliver thought, looking at the Omega. The Alpha found him just so damn sexy and beautiful in that moment, holding _their_ daughter, that he had to force back the _want_ to kiss him so damn possessively, he wanted Tommy all to himself, he want to bi—

"God. I could just—"

"Eat her?" Felicity finished, staring down at the baby girl as she brushed a hand through the Omega's dark-hair. "She gets that edible factor from you, Tommy."

Tommy snorted in amusement at that. Rebecca made a sound, disturbed by the jolt. Fussing lightly. "Sorry." He whispered to her, amusement laid in his blue-eyes. "Your aunt thinks she funny, but I definitely get first rights."

"I'm officially jealous."

Oliver raised a brow at the pair of them. "Do I even want to know?"

Felicity snickered. "Tommy's a puppy... so cute you could eat him!"

Tommy rolled his eyes, but added in good humour, "Don't forget: smell yummy and snatch-able."

Felicity's eyes twinkled. "How could I forget?" _Coffee and banana_ , she remembered. He stilled smelled like that, even she could detect it under the smell of the hospital. She knew it was the pregnancy perfume, and would probably go away once his hormones balanced out.

Tommy smiled as he traced the curve of Rebecca's little snub nose, delicately with his finger and watched as her cute little face scrunched up at the feeling, and then he was staring into her dark-blue-eyes. He knew all baby's were born with blue-eyes, and that soon, the colour would change, but he didn't think it would go too far. Tommy had blue-eyes, his mother had blue-eyes, Malcolm's were more a jade-blue; Oliver's eyes were blue, Moira's were blue, Robert's had been blue, Thea's were grey tinged with green and brown. And Felicity had blue-eyes, as if that somehow counted. They were just an assortment of blues, Rebecca Meghan didn't stand a chance of anything else.

The Omega doctor gave them another moment with the newborn, before she stepped back into the picture. "I want you to try breastfeeding, Tommy." The doctor said, gently drawing attention back to herself.

Tommy somehow managed to tear his gaze from his daughter. "Uh... sure, I guess." But the Omega seemed unsure. He cleared his throat awkwardly, before he glanced up at her. "I mean, they've been tender," he admitted, "But I haven't discharged any milk during the pregnancy—so I didn't think it was an option."

"That's not abnormal for male Omegas," she assured. "With a little stimulation and encouragement from the baby, and her own pheromones should trigger the release."

Tommy nodded. "Alright. Oliver?" he asked, sitting up from leaning against the Alpha with a soft grunt, and made a small gesture with the little warm bundle in his arms, the intent clear.

"What? Really?" Oliver actually seemed surprised.

"Of course!" he scoffed. "She's y—" he stopped just in time from announcing Oliver's fatherhood in front of the doctor, "I'm not the only one who held Thea. You can do it, I believe in you," he teased.

"Okay." Oliver took a deep breath and shifted a little on the bed, and held out his muscled arms, waiting. Tommy gentle, carefully transferred the babe into his arms like she was the most delicate thing in the world, the most precious, and for either of them, that would never change. Very _aware_ of exactly how small the little pup was, he settled her into the crook of his muscled arm. She stirred in her bundle at all the movement, but she settled instantly into her other father's embrace.

"Oh," Oliver gasped softly as he held his daughter in his arms, all warmth and innocence seeping through his own gown-clad chest. In this moment, holding her for the first time, watching Tommy, being able to _be_ with them, he forgot all the horrors of the past three-years and change; the death, and grief that his own calloused hands had caused. He wasn't the asset, kid, Mr. Queen—he was Ollie, he was a father.

Tommy watched them with a smile, just seeing them together was beautiful. Oliver was _melted_ with Rebecca in his arms. But he was drawn back as without prompting, Felicity reached behind him, and with quick and deft fingers that were born with a keypad attached to them, she tugged the tie at the back of his neck and between his shoulders, loosening the gown. She pulled it down over his shoulders, and he tugged it off the rest of the way, to pool at his waist with the blanket and revealing slight swollen pecks. He felt the first chill at losing the cover of the thin material, before he was immediately warmed by the heated air.

"Oliver?"

Oliver looked at Tommy like he never wanted to Rebecca Meghan go, and he understood the sentiment. But the lightly fussing babe needed to be feed and they had all the time in the world to hold her and never let go. Oliver pressed a carefully, lingring kiss to his daughter's capped head, careful of the roughness of his scruff against her delicate skin, before he passed her back to him.

"Just introduce her to your nipple and she should instinctively latch on," the doctor said. He was sure it was a weird thing to say, even in this situation, but he had better things to focus on.

He adjusted her against his chest and in his arms, marginally different from the first time, but no less comfortable. But the doctor was right, all he had to do was put her in its path and she did the rest. She latched on and automatically started to suck (apparently, she didn't mind the hairy nipple with the hairy chest). She made discomforted little noises as he knew she wasn't getting what she wanted. She kind of wiggled in his arms in her discontent, a little arm broke free of the wrap.

The image of a bitch feeding her little of pups, the puppies little paws kneading her milk-engorged breasts to encourage more milk as they suckled, entered the Omega's mind as he watched. If she started to do that, he was sure he would completely lose it, but thankfully, that never came to pass.

A moment later, he uttered a little gasp at the sudden release of pressure that he hadn't truly realized was there until now, and Rebecca made a content noise, settling down.

"Well, that's definitely different than when you did it." He said without thought. Felicity raised a brow, the doctor wore her professional-mask, Oliver had his own kind of mask. He looked up. "Did I just say that?"

Felicity grinned. "Yes, you did. And we are definitely talking later."

Tommy glanced at Oliver and didn't confirm nor deny. Oliver ignored them and watched Tommy feeding their daughter. Oliver found it to be one of the sexiest things he'd ever seen.

"When she's full, she stop feeding by herself, or even fall asleep during." The doctor said. "When she's finished, make sure to burp her and get out any air she might have taken in." They nodded their understanding. "You can also use the pump and bottle the milk, that way you can get a break and others can feed her. If you need anything, just page the nurses station." She gave them a smile, and left the odd little pack.

Tommy blinked at the sudden flash. "Felicity!" he protested, when he saw her take a picture with her cell. "Would you be doing that if I was a woman and had boobs?" he hissed indignantly.

She cocked her head lightly as she observed him. "But you kind of do... Mr. Milk Man." She teased.

"Mr. Milk Man?" he repeated looking at her grin. "Definitely my new porn name." They shared a little snicker, and Rebecca made a protesting grumble at his shaking. "Oh..." he reminded the Beta. "Just wait until it's your turn, Smoak." He said lowly, a glint in his blue-eyes.

She snorted dismissively. "Right."

"Mm." Was his only response as he turned his attention back to his daughter. But she did put the phone away; she'd gotten the picture she wanted anyways.

**aRRoW**

Moira:

It was quiet in the little hospital room, but despite the three grown adults in and on either side of the bed, and the baby, it didn't seem crowded, just safe and bubbled. The blond Alpha woman was unnoticed out in the hall, looking into the room through the cracked blinds on the window set in the door. She'd given her son a couple hours to reacquaint himself with Thomas, meet his daughter and come to terms with being a father, as well as assess the new woman in the Omega's life. Now, it was her turn to meet her granddaughter.

She knocked lightly on the door before she opened it. "Hello," the Alpha greeted gently, stepping into the room.

"Hey, mom." Oliver said nervously, his arm was tense where it rested against the side of the bed, and he looked to be about to pull his hand from Tommy's before the other man squeezed his hand.

"Moira," Tommy smiled at her, looking tired, but happy and peaceful. Moira thought it was a good look on the Omega. He had been so much more lighter and happier since Malcolm disowned him, or perhaps it was because he had a peace of Oliver growing inside of himself this whole time and knew of the Alpha's survival.

"So," Moira questioned softly, leaning lightly over the plastic cradle the baby now lay sleeping, (she was fed, changed, and in a nice little feeding-induced slumber) gently caressing her tiny little hand with her thumb. "How my granddaughter doing?"

The Beta, Alpha, and Omega exchanged wide-eyed looks. That was an acknowledgement if there ever was one. No preamble. No read-between-the-line or implications. Just straight up fact.

"Um..." Tommy stammered for a moment. "How did you know?"

She sent him a knowing smile before turned back to the pup. "I've known since I first saw you in the hospital to get Thea a month ago. That scarf you had—the _other father's_ , you had said. The scent didn't fully register with me until out in the hall. The scent, though fading, was still too fresh to have been from three-years ago. That's when I knew that Oliver was alive."

Tommy nodded, that was what he'd suspected.

Moira turned her gaze to the quiet blond Beta, sitting quietly and unobtrusively in a second plastic chair, on the other side of the bed from where Oliver sat, with the baby in between the Alpha and Omega. "What about you, Miss Smoak?"

"Me?" Felicity looked at her in surprise. "Um, well, today really. I mean, I had my suspicious, but it's not like I knew Oliver _before_. But it wasn't until today."

Moira gave a minute nod. She turned to look at Tommy. "How are you fairing, Thomas?"

"I'm doing great." He told her. "But, if you suspected that Oliver was alive, that this was his baby—why didn't you say anything?"

Moira still didn't know all that the genius Beta knew, but she thought it better to talk to the pair alone, without an outsider. "Felicity, dear," the Alpha murmured congenially, "Do you think you could give us a moment? Family business." Moira raised a blond brow at the young Beta.

Felicity stared right back, and her brow mirrored the Alpha's. A clear statement that she _was_ Tommy's family, and a dare to challenge such statement. Moira didn't release her gaze and neither did Felicity. And then suddenly, the tension in the air snapped, some sort of silent understanding was exchanged between the two women, and they were back to the problem at-hand.

Wow. Oliver had watched in almost fascination. There were very few that stood up to his mother like that, and came out alive. His opinion of the Beta just went up several notches.

"I know about Hong Kong." Moira said very frankly, hoping to catch the trio off-guard and hopefully have them slip something.

The room was suddenly very quiet, still, and tense—but for Rebecca Meghan, snuggling in her sleep, comforted by the close and surrounding scents of both her fathers.

Felicity shot the panicked and frozen pair a fast look; all at once they were all electrical. Moira couldn't _know_ about Hong Kong, just as Felicity didn't really _know_ about Hong Kong. But the Alpha could know about Hong Kong, just as the Beta had suggested to them about an hour ago. Anyone could get a hold of a flight manifest, and see that nine-months beforehand; Tommy had taken the Merlyn Private Jet (though the flight plan to Hong Kong would be far more accessible than the passenger list [but with the name painted in huge letters across the side, it was obvious]); and had returned to Starling City five-days later on a commercial flight, paid with his card.

"I don't need to know why," though every instinct and fear of being a step behind screamed that she did, "but we're going to have to get one step ahead of this." She looked at both Tommy and Oliver. "After recognizing your scent on that scarf, I was easily able to put together and connect Tommy going to Hong Kong and coming back pregnant, with your fresh scent all over that scarf. You were alive in Hong Kong, Oliver, and for whatever reason, didn't try and come home."

Tommy and Oliver shared a look. Actually, the Alpha had tried to come home, tried to make contact. That was how Tommy found him, and that was why Tommy flew to Hong Kong. But being coerced into being some shady government’s killer puppet—had taught the billionaire's son lessons and heartbreaks he wished he didn't have to. But despite all of that, the price that the Yamashiro family paid; the innocence that was scraped away, the young Alpha's soft edges cut away into hardness—something good and amazing and beautiful had come out of this. Rebecca Meghan Merlyn... (hyphen Queen. Eventually).

"That for whatever reason, not even Tommy could tell the world that he had found you. My granddaughter silently speaks on that account."

Oliver's face was turned slightly away from his mother, Tommy's wrist rested at the juncture of his broad shoulder where it connected to his corded neck, his fingers petting the prickly buzzed hair at the nape of his neck. Both comforting, and easing the invisible tension and stress in the Alpha's shoulders. When Oliver looked at her, his expression was a very controlled mask.

"Tommy knows most of what happened." His eyes flickered briefly to the Beta. "And that's all anyone else in here needs to know." The two Alphas locked blue-gazes.

The doctor she had spoken too in hall had been right. This wasn't the Oliver that she knew almost four-years back, her son. Oh, he was still there, shinning through behind those bright blue-eyes, but she suspected the only reason for that, was because against all else, Tommy had somehow found him nine-months ago. Had that not happened, Moira didn't think she would be looking at her son right now, and she knew it wouldn't be because 'Ollie,' was gone, but because Oliver would simply not even be in Starling City. How many bright things might have change simply because Tommy didn't run off to Hong Kong on a whim and get pregnant with her son's child?

Felicity decided to break the charged silence, they needed to deal with this because Tommy really did need his rest. He should have been sleeping right along with his baby. "It's only a matter of time once news of Tommy's pregnancy hits the tabloids. It's inevitable with that fact that you happened to come home to Starling, with Tommy in labour just a few floors down..."

"So we need to come up with our own story before the tabloids and reporters outside start speculating." Tommy sighed tiredly, carding fingers through his dark mussed hair.

They were all quiet in thought...

Tommy knew that he should try and come up with a plan, but in the quiet, the only music his family's breathing, laying, he managed to doze lightly. His thoughts and feelings just drifting along slowly and lazily. His hand kept up the motion, petting the back of the Alpha's neck. Just wanting to touch the man wherever possible, however possible. Oliver leaned into his touch, and the Omega wanted more than anything to just curl up and sleep with Oliver's strong arms wrapped around him, his scent of honey and black pepper like a physical blanket enveloping him.

"How's your sperm count?" Felicity blurted abruptly, an idea that had been swirling around in her head for a while now. That definitely woke the Omega up. They all looked at her, and the Beta seemed to realize exactly what she sounded like. "I mean, one Knot with Tommy and he went all pregos so we knew exactly how fast your little Ollie swimmers are... Forget I said that! That's not what I meant to say! Argh!" Felicity groaned.

Tommy braked with laughter, grimacing at the pain that jolted him through his incision. But he held his stomach, trying to hold himself together as he continued to laugh. It was a brief outlet to let out some much needed emotion in what was probably a more healthier way than if he'd actually been healthy. He laid back, exhausted pleasantly, wiping his eyes as they looked at him.

He grinned at Felicity. "I missed your babbles, Smoak. I forgot how cute and funny they are. I really needed that."

She gave a derisive smirk and drawled, "Glad my utter humiliation is so entertaining for you."

He snorted and chuckled. "Remember when you first met Diggle? God, I wanted to laugh so hard, but I was afraid I'd give birth right there in the hall and three months early."

"Tommy!" she glowered. "Like you haven't put your foot in your mouth."

Oliver cleared his throat, drawing the attention towards himself. "So, exactly what did you mean to say..." he paused, "About my sperm?"

"Right." Felicity cleared her throat, her pale cheeks tinged lightly pink. "What I meant to say was... ever donate sperm while you were still 'alive'?"

But Tommy and Oliver were decidedly _too_ quiet. Moira slowly turned to her son, her eyes narrowed. "Oliver," her voice was low, its edges trembled with her Alpha-voice.

Both men gulped and shared a look. Oliver almost gave the Omega a helpless look, Tommy gave him a look in return that clearly stated: _It was your idea, buddy. Your swimmers. Your mother. Your deal._ Oliver gave a little grumble before he faced his mother.

He inhaled deeply. "We were like, eighteen—"

"Oliver," it was in a decidedly mother-tone this time. "What were you thinking?"

"It was never in the tabloids. No one saw us, no one ever knew we were there. _You_ didn't know." He reminded pointedly. "I didn't even use my real name. It was just a dare. No one knows, mom."

"That was very irresponsible, Oliver. If anyone were to ever found out—"

"Oh, everyone's going to find out, Mrs. Queen." Felicity interrupted her, pulling her portable tablet from her bag.

"What do you mean?" she narrowed her eyes.

Felicity glanced up, and gulped only a little. "Well, I'm assuming that we're all on the same page that no one outside of this room can ever know that Oliver was alive in Hong Kong this year, and that Tommy _knew_ and didn't tell anybody?" no one responded and she nodded, more confident now. "And people are going to find out that Oliver is Rebecca's other father eventually... so how does a dead person impregnate a live one?"

"You want to let it slip to the press that I got pregnant by going to the clinic," Tommy voiced her idea slowly, "and got artificially inseminated with Oliver's sperm in Hong Kong, before they start making wild—but true—assumptions that it was actually _Oliver_ that did the impregnating?"

"Exactly." Felicity's fingers were already flying across the tablet screen. Not taking her eyes off the screen, she located her chair, almost half-way off it, before she adjusted and used her lap as a table so she could use both hands on the screen.

"Mom, what do you think?" Oliver asked quietly.

The Alpha thought that it was actually a brilliant cover. If the three of them had said this to her accusation about Hong Kong instead of actually admitting that Oliver was there, she might have believed it herself.

"Oh, my God. People are going to think I'm fucking insane!" Tommy realized with abject horror. "That I'm some obsessed Omega in love with his Alpha best-friend, who couldn't get over his death, went completely bat-shit crazy, and went to a sperm clinic so he could have his baby!"

"Well, you kind of were obsessed." Felicity reminded him. "I mean, you went of Craig's List in search for a 'hacker' and paid me loads of money to put every trace and search algorithm imaginable on Oliver—despite authorities deeming him deceased."

"Craig's List alone..." Oliver muttered, trying to lighten the mood. Tommy, batted him lightly on the shoulder, but the corner of his mouth was turned upward.

"It's not—" Felicity tried to protest, but just sighed in defeat. "I'm not on it anymore, okay? Can we please move on?"

"Ugh, God!" Tommy croaked out a self-deprecating laugh. "I was that pathetic, wasn't I? I was entirely out of control. And that thing with Laurel"—there were several grimaces around the room, including his own—"I was completely out of it!" Now, he was just muttering more to himself about his own revelations on the matter, than the three others around him, "And, oh, Malcolm, he's going to have a field day with this, isn't he? Everything he's ever said about me—he's going to think is absolutely true." Of course, this was a thought that he would always somehow end up thinking.

"Fuck Malcolm!" Both Felicity and Oliver growled menacingly. Oliver's had more reverberation around the small room, and was as intimidating as any Alpha-voice could be. And Felicity's, a Beta, never one to lose her cool in the first place, was taken with a deep instinctual hindbrain—it was rather ominous coming from the small blond.

"With these two," Moira mused to Tommy. "I think you'll be fine."

"How fast does this need to be done?" Felicity asked, her questioned directed at the female Alpha, and her voice reverting back to normal.

"Before Tommy has to leave the hospital."

The Beta nodded. "I can do that." It wasn't over-confidence. It was simple fact.

Moira had indeed checked the little Beta out, the first time she'd met the young woman. Of course she did. She'd learned long ago that being left in the dark was a very dangerous thing. So she knew that Felicity wasn't bragging. She knew (and was surprised to discover that she worked at Queen Consolidated, and was completely and utterly over-qualified for the position she held for just shy of the last two-years).

Moira gazed one last time at her granddaughter, before she turned to Tommy, brushed his flopping bangs from his forehead and kissed his temple. He hugged her before she stood back up.

"Oliver, honey, can I speak to you out in the hall?" Moira questioned, stepping from the bed.

Oliver nodded after a moment and kissed Tommy's forehead. "I'll be back in a minute." He stood and followed his mother out into the quiet hall. "What is it?"

"Oliver, maybe you should go to your room." Moira suggested. "Get some rest, you look exhausted."

"What? I'm not going anywhere, mom." Oliver insisted firmly.

The Alpha gave a small sigh, she remembered this stubbornness. "Am I also to assume you'll be staying the night?"

"Yes. I'm not leaving until Tommy leaves."

"Alright." She agreed. "I'll call your sister to pack some of your clothes from your room at the mansion and get driven here. I know she's really concerned about Tommy, and would love to see her big brother again, alive and well." She put a hand on his shoulder and kissed his cheek.

He pulled her into a hug before she could pull away. "Thank you." He whispered. Briefly burying his face in her hair before he pulled back. She kissed his cheek one last time and he disappeared back into the room and she headed off towards Oliver's abandoned private room to make her calls.

**aRRoW**

_Roy_ :

Oliver had just sat back down after his talk with his mother when Roy came rushing into the Omega's room, like a red-hooded bullet.

His hood was half-way off his head, his cheeks were flushed red, but it was hard to tell if that was from the cold outside or exertion, his shoulders working as he gasped to catch his breath. Melted snow clung to his hiker boots and the cuffs of his jeans were darkened with wet. Tommy had to tamp down the 'mothering instinct' with his out if whack hormones at the moment as he was warned of after giving birth. At least the Beta had on a thick vest over his red hoodie, it was the dead of winter after all.

Needing some kind of comfort and security after that conversation with Moira and cover-ups, despite her initial protests at being picked up and awoken from her nice little sleep, Rebecca easily settled into his arms and Tommy definitely felt that much better.

It was a surprise to have the Beta sudden burst in, but it wasn't unwelcomed. Tommy actually felt a little guiltily that he hadn't remember to call Roy. A lot had happened within the day to guarantee his forgetfulness and Felicity had been stressed and worried all day as well.

Oliver, on the other hand, wasn't taking too well to surprises just now—finding out that his best-friend in life was the other father to his baby, was all he could handle at the moment. He didn't know who this Beta was, just that there was a kid suddenly bursting into Tommy and his daughter's room. His protective instinct instantly kicked in.

Roy's eyes widened as his eye line was suddenly obscured by a gown-clad muscled chest. Alpha pheromones instantly bombarded his unusually keen Beta Scent, clearly warning him. But it was a moment later that something else took his attention.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed, stealing one of Tommy more favoured and used expletives as he recognized the Alpha standing in his immediate path. The guy had been breaking news all day. And he remembered that this was Thea's older brother. He'd seen the pictures and even rich people portrait the limited times he'd been over to the Queen Mansion (in tow of the others of course). Tommy also had pictures in his room at his and Felicity's apartment.

He immediately straightened, chin raised and shoulders back. Yeah, he'd stopped cowering at Alpha intimidation long ago, he wouldn't have survived as long as he had in the Glades otherwise.

Oliver had Scented the Beta as soon as he stepped into the room. He could smell Tommy all over the blond, and Felicity, Thea, other scents that he didn't recognize personally, but were familiar from a similar mixture of scents on both Tommy and Felicity. But the Omega's scent was definitely more diluted on the male Beta, than the female Beta, who almost practically had Tommy coming out of her pores. It wasn't a wonder why people might think that they were Mated. Under all that, he could Scent the subtle aroma of olive of the Beta himself.

After Scenting all the similar scents that wisped and wriggled around the three, Oliver realized that there were probably a lot more people that were in Tommy's life than before he was presumed dead, and that would eventually be visiting that he had no clue about—all the friends that the Omega had made while he was trying to survive on what was decidedly not a deserted island before he was forced to play dead as he made people dead. It filled him with jealousy and sadness that he hadn't been a part of the last three-years nine-months. That he had missed so much.

"Oliver!" Tommy called to him. "This is Roy Harper. He's the one that came to my rescue... my Knight in a Scuffed Red Hoodie!" he laughed lightly.

That instantly changed Oliver's offensive emotion towards the Beta. Though Felicity had confessed for the Omega that he had been attack by _three_ Alphas, he didn't know the _exact_ extent of injuries that Tommy had suffered, just that a month later, they still effected the birth of their daughter. He was instantly grateful for the existence of this teen in front of him. Oliver's hands clapped onto either of the Beta's shoulders, and squeezed. Roy was tense under his hands, his breath almost held, waiting for whatever was going to happen yet.

"You're the one that save Tommy?" Oliver asked lowly.

Roy could only nod in response.

The Alpha's gaze flickered across his face, taking in every feature. He was kind of surprised how similar Roy looked to when Oliver was a teenager himself. He almost laughed, he bet Tommy loved that. But there was something more important that he had to do here.

"Thank you." He swore. And then snatched up the shorter boy into a bear hug.

Roy was stiff as a board in his embrace. He didn't move, didn't even blink he was sure. He wasn't sure he understood what was happening right now. He could see Felicity and Tommy's open-mouthed expressions as they watched, that they couldn't quite understand that it was happening either. But Oliver did, he was just so grateful towards the young man.

Roy definitely liked Felicity's hug of appreciation better. It had been fierce, of course, but all her soft places evened it out. He didn't think Oliver had a soft place on his body. Jeez, were there steroids on that island, or what?

"I owe you more than you can know," he said softly, then clapped the stunned Beta once more on the shoulder and went back to his chair at Tommy's bedside, where the Omega looked between them, amused.

Roy attempted to recover from the abrupt hug-assault from Oliver Queen. When Thea had called him and told him what was happening, he got to the hospital as fast as he could. He was expecting something, but it definitely wasn't what he had walked into. Getting hugs from Tommy and Felicity were one thing, but Oliver was an entirely different entity, one the Beta thought was only tolerable for a one-go-around.

"Roy," Felicity smiled, resting her laptop on her lap and breaking the awkward-ice, "You look worse than Tommy."

"Seeing as he doesn't look all that bad, I think I'll take that as a compliment." Tommy said stiffly.

Roy smirked, easing in the face of humour and sarcasm. "Seeing how great Tommy looks, in the after-glow of birth—I'll take that as a resounding fact of you hitting on me."

"Oh, my two boys," she chuckled, "so vain!" the three all shared a round of laughs and smiles.

"So, that's the kid, huh?" Roy said. He approached, but only came as far as the foot of the bed, and might have stood more towards Felicity's side than Oliver’s. He'd unzipped his vest, and stuffed his hands in his red hoodie pockets, his hood down. It acted as both a defensive pose and a way to warm up his freezing, numb-fingered hands. It was fucking cold outside and he didn't really have gloves. "Everything good?"

"Yeah, Roy, everything's good."

"Good," Roy nodded, "'Cause Thea sounded pretty worried when she called me and I came as fast as I could."

"Oh, shit!" Felicity blurted in surprise. And Tommy and Roy looked at her with identical raised brows, showing their surprise at her swear. "I called Thea after they took Tommy into the OR to tell her what was going on and see how she was handling her brother returning from the dead. She told me to call you... but I kind of didn't...?" she finished off with a look of guilt, though she wasn't sure who to direct it at.

"Don't worry, I got it." Roy took out his cell phone, and with reddened fingers, texted Thea not to flip out, everyone was clearly alive (his flicked a glance at Oliver). He put his phone away and looked back at Tommy. "So... what'd you name her?"

"Rebecca Meghan Meryn..." Tommy left the end unsaid, shooting a quick smirk at Oliver. _Hyphen Queen._

"Hey, isn't that—?" he glanced at Felicity.

The blond woman beamed at him. "My middle name? Damn right!"

"Hey," he huffed, "Don't say I don't listen to you when you babble."

Felicity made a little doffing-the-invisible-hat at him. "Granted, sir." He chuckled and shook his head. "And don't forget... God Mother!"

"Can't say I'm surprised."

Tommy gave a little devious chuckle then. Roy looked at the Omega with a slight frown and definitely suspicious blue-eyes. "Hello, Roy." He said cheerfully.

"Hello...?" the blond replied nervously.

"Knock-Knock," Tommy said. Roy just stared. "Knock-Knock, Roy."

Roy gulped. "Who's there?" he whispered quietly, hoping that maybe if the Omega didn't hear him, whatever this was wouldn't happen.

" _Say hello to my little friend!"_ he held Rebecca slightly aloft in his arms.

"What?" he looked to Oliver and Felicity for help, but they just looked greatly entertained by the whole thing, and Tommy still had that smile on his face watching the Beta squirm. "Tommy—"

Tommy adjusted Rebecca in his arms, so she was laying against his chest, facing Roy. Roy got caught in those dark-blue-eyes, like tide-pools. " _Won't you be my God Father?"_ suddenly, there was a high-pitched little girl's voice and the Beta may have jumped at little.

"What the hell, Tommy?" Roy growled uncomfortably.

Oliver took Rebecca into her arms. "You're daddy's a weirdo, sorry, buttercup, there's nothing for it." He whispered to the wriggling baby.

Tommy smiled. "I want you to be Rebecca's God Father, Roy."

"What? Me?" Roy blinked in complete surprise, taken aback.

"You're the only reason either of us are here now, Roy."

"But we've only known each other for little over a month." He replied. "I don't know anything about taking care of a baby."

"I don't plan on dying just yet," Tommy said and Oliver gave a quiet growl of agreement. "Believe me. And that's not just what it is. It just assures me that you'll take an interest in her life, stay in mine—you'll stick with the family. You do seem like a runner," Tommy mused quietly, not without humour. "Something you've got in common with Oliver here."

"Hey!" Oliver protested, but there wasn't much weight behind it. "I'm not going anywhere, Tommy."

"I know." He patted the Alpha's arm. "A baby is pretty good incentive. I am not above blackmail." Before turning to Roy, "So, what do you say?"

Roy was quiet for a moment. "Okay, I guess. I mean, yes, I will—as long as you don't die."

Tommy grinned. "Deal!"

"Alright. Well, I should get going." Roy said, zipping up his vest and throwing on his hood. "It's pretty late."

"Wait." Felicity stopped him. "Here." She tossed something at him without much warning. His hand flew up and he snatched it from the air.

He looked at the rattling object in his hand. "Your keys?" he asked in confusion, looking back at her.

"You can go back to the apartment."

"Felicity—" he started in instant protest, but her raised single brow above the rim of her glasses stopped him in his tracks. That cursed brow! It was her evil power. He gritted his teeth a little and huffed. "Fine." She gave him a triumphant grin. He narrowed his eyes. "But I'm totally going into your stash." He said defiantly.

"Mm." Was the challenge. _Is that the best you can do, Abercrombie?_ It said.

He said bye, and gave pouty lips at Felicity before he left.

**aRRoW**

Thea:

Thea had been pacing, worried over the last several hours. First was the news that her big brother was actually alive. She still wasn't sure she completely accepted the fact; despite the news, despite her mother. So she focused on the call she'd received from Felicity, and the own panic and anxiety and fear that it elicited in her; that there were complications with the labour and Tommy had been rushed to the OR for an emergency C-Section.

If something happened to Tommy—she killed that thought in its tracks. Just as Felicity had told her over the phone. Tommy was strong, the baby was strong. If she didn't know that before (which she did), the attack last month just proved it. Being an Omega didn't make the man weak, it made him strong. Fuck Malcolm and fuck those Alphas that attacked him for trying to say otherwise.

But still, she felt helpless and useless—on both the matters of Oliver and Tommy. And being inactive, it was doing her no favours. First the anxiety over Oliver's sudden return from the dead (of course it was sudden, he'd been declared dead for the last three-years. She remembered the exact day that the authorities declared her brother and father no long M.I.A. but deceased, perfectly)—well, at least Walter was a very calming British influence.

She wasn't angry that she'd never gotten another call or text from Felicity to update her on what was happening with Tommy. She knew the Beta had a lot on her keyboard right now, and anxiety and fears of her own. Thea was just frustrated that she was the one left floundering and waiting (as she was sure she always would be. She knew, because she was sixteen-almost-to-be-seventeen in a couple months. But she thought it pretty cool that she was going to be sharing her birthday-month with her [unbeknownst blood-related] niece).

But after her first tearful-panic about Tommy's condition (for which Walter had metaphorically put her head between her knees to help calm her, his strong, reassuring Omega pheromones sweeping over her), she'd first updated her mother, before she called Roy afterwards.

Thea had come to know Felicity well enough to know that the Beta wouldn't call Roy, even as she promised the Alpha over the phone, so she'd done it for her. She was acting proactively. If she couldn't be at the hospital herself; for Oliver, if she couldn't even go for Tommy—She was sending Roy to them and he'd be her little blond, red-hooded, Spy.

She was pretty sure that Moira had asked Walter to make sure that Thea didn't try for a 'jail break' from the Queen Mansion and head to Starling General herself—she wouldn't put it passed her mother. But the young Alpha also knew that the Omega would have kept her company because that was just the kind of man he was. He was caring like that.

At first, when Moira and Walter had first started Courting a couple-years back, Thea had been upset. Initially, it had been Tommy that had helped her see things more clearly. Moira was lonely. She still loved Robert, would always love him, wouldn't ever forget her first husband and the father of her children. But she still deserved to be happy and loved. And Walter did that for her. He wasn't after her money, he had his own plush reserves; he was the acting CEO of Queen Consolidated now. No, he was with Moira because he loved her. He came to love Thea, too, like a daughter. And Thea had grown to love him back; he could never replace her father, but he wasn't trying to. He'd even adopted Tommy and Felicity into his own little pack, (Roy was like the cousin, while them son and daughter. He loved all of them. He cared for all of them. He was part of their family now.

And finally, a few hours after she'd first called Roy, she'd finally received a text from the Abercrombie Beta. (Tommy was doing great, the baby was cute and healthy, Felicity had her nose buried in her tablet... and her brother was one scary ass dude).

In the short (less than a) month that she had gotten to know him after the attack on Tommy, he'd become her friend. It was nice to have someone that didn't judge her for the fact that she was the daughter of a billionaire family; or that her father and brother (formerly) had been shipwrecked at sea and killed. It was nice to have someone closer to her own age who was also connected to her other friends. She totally had him wrapped around her pinkie-finger, not that the Beta knew it. But he wasn't afraid to defy her and tell her the truth. He wasn't friends with her because of her money. He was friends with her because he was friends with her, and she didn't think she ever had that before.

She knew that he wouldn't hide anything about this, but she still needed to _see_ with _her own_ eyes. To be able to hug Tommy, look into his eyes and Felicity's, when he said that everything was okay. He was her brother just as much as Oliver, she'd known him as far as she could remember. If she really thought about it. He'd actually been in her life longer than Ollie.

The mansion's hard-line rung and Walter answered it. She instantly knew that it was from Moira, just from the first hello.

Walter hung up shortly after. "Thea, your mother has told me that everyone is doing fine at the hospital and she would like you to go up to your brother's room and pack a bag of his clothes that we can take over to the hospital."

"Really?" she was definitely surprised by her mother's sudden change of heart. "Never mind," she said hurriedly as he that dark-skinned Omega opened his mouth, "I'm not going to let you change your mind!" and she ran from the room, the older man's soft chuckles following her up the stairs.

She went into Ollie's room without hesitation this time, too excited to finally be involved to think about it. She found a duffle in his closet and ravaged through his closet and dresser; grabbing what she thought might be appropriate for the current whether. Some underwear, thick wool socks, pants, a t-shirt, long-sleeve, sweater, she managed to dig out an old winter coat and his boots. She wasn't sure how long he'd be staying at the hospital (and if he knew that Tommy was there too, as Roy had indicated in his text, that clearly had to be factored into the matter), she threw in some sleep pants as well.

She ran back downstairs, duffle stuffed, to find Walter already bundled up for the whether and waiting for her. She quickly stepped into her winter boots, stuffing her pant legs into them before standing up. She smiled as Walter wrapped a scarf around her neck, and then helped her into her winter coat. And then they stepped into the driveway where the car that Walter had called for, was already pulled around.

x—x

Thea met her mother at the nurses station on the paediatrics ward, with Walter following behind at a more controlled pace. Thea hugged her mom, and she and Walter shared a chaste kiss.

"How is everyone, my dear?" Walter asked, his large hand gently rubbing the woman's arm.

Moira gave him a slight smile, some of the stress leaving her as she Scented the Omega, letting his natural scents ease her Alpha-anxiety. "Oliver seemed far away, but when I told him about Tommy, he seemed better for it. More present, focused. Perhaps it was luck that brought them both to the hospital tonight," she murmured, almost knowingly. She turned to her daughter, "Thea, do you—"

"I want to know Tommy is alright and meet my niece," the young Alpha insisted, not knowing how close to the truth she was on the latter part. She paused and swallowed nervously. "And-and Oliver, he's with Tommy. I gathered as much from Roy's text."

"Ah, yes." Moira nodded. "I thought I saw Mr. Harper running passed me in his little red hood."

Just then, Roy came around the corner. "Hey, guys." He greeted upon seeing them and approached. "Thea, I didn't know you were coming. I thought that was the whole point of you freaking me out and my rushing over here?" he accused.

She shrugged at little, but at least she looked _somewhat_ guilty. "Mom, called right after your text so we could bring some clothes from Oliver."

"Yeah," he groused. "Guy's running around in a hospital gown, not warning a guy before giving him a scary thankful hug." He ran his hand over his short spiky blind hair, knocking his hood back down. The two Queen women and Steele man looked at him. He shifted uncomfortably. "I'm sure it'll be better for you." He muttered.

Thea snorted in realization. "He hugged you?! Ha! I wish I could have seen that."

Roy grunted in response. He didn't want to sound paranoid, but he was pretty sure the computer genius had recorded it on her cell. Not that he was going to tell them that. Felicity would probably show it to the teen Alpha as soon as she asked about the hug.

"Are you leaving, Roy?" Walter asked him.

"Yeah." The key's to the Smoak-Merlyn apartment were stuffed in his hoodie pocket so he wouldn't lose them. Usually, he seriously wouldn’t have relented so easily or at all, but on the upside: unlike his 'shack' in the Glades, their place had heat... and food, and an insurmountable amount of other things that his didn't that he wasn't going to get into.

"Would you like a ride? It's late and rather cold tonight. It started snowing again as we were coming in."

"You're not staying?"

Walter shook his head and shared a look with Moira. "We think it would be better for Oliver to adjust to being back in the City before he meets me."

"Um, okay. If you don't mind?"

"Of course not, Roy." Walter smiled. "Where would you like to be dropped off?"

"Felicity gave me the keys to their apartment. Could you drop me off there?"

Walter agreed and gave Thea a hug and kissed Moira goodbye. Thea gave Roy's shoulder a pat as he passed and he and Walter left side-by-side.

Thea instantly turned to her mother. "Where's Tommy's room?"

Moira exhaled softly and started to head back the way that Roy had appeared from. "It's alright to feel scared..."

"I'm not scared," the teenager denied, her grip in the duffle tightening. It was only her brother back from the dead after almost four-years. Of grief, sadness, anger, loneliness.

She didn't want to have to think about it, she just wanted to do. So when Moira stopped at the room, Thea didn't think about it. She opened the door, stepped in—and promptly froze at the sight of her brother. She stared, her breath caught in her throat. He stared right back. He slowly rose and took a couple steps towards her, barefoot and in a gown, just like Roy had said, before he stopped.

"Speedy?"

And just like that, the duffle dropped to the floor and she rushed at the Alpha. She flew into his arms with a sob. He caught her easily without a single stumble and held her tight as she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him just a tight back.

"You look different." She complained, her voice watery.

"Yeah, well, you were just a little squirt the last time I saw you." He whispered into her hair.

She chuckled into his throat, feeling the scratch of his scruff on her cheek but not caring. "I missed you every day, Ollie. I never stopped thinking about you."

"Me, too. Me, too." He petted her wavy brown hair.

"I'm so happy you're alive."

"So am I." He hushed, rocking them gently back and forth. Finally, he set her back on the floor and she took a step back, giving a sniff as she wiped her wet cheeks. "Look at you," he whispered, picking up a lock of her wavy hair. "Didn't you used to have one of the blob-things?"

She chuckled. "A bob, dummy."

He gave her a little smirk. "Right."

"You've gotten shorter,"

"I think that's you getting taller."

"Oh, Ollie." She flung her arms around his waist, squeezing as she buried her face in the dip at the center of his chest, Scenting him through the hospital stink. Definitely better than moping and crying in his room. "You're never leaving Starling City again." She proclaimed firmly.

"That's a sentiment that I can't help but second," Tommy agreed from behind them on the bed.

"I don't plan to," Oliver promised them both.

"Tommy," Thea gasped, almost having forgotten. She wanted to go to the Omega, but at the same time, she didn't want to let go of her brother for the (not) irrational thought that he would disappear. So she settled for going on her toes and looking over the Alpha's shoulder.

"That's me," Tommy smiled at her, seeing her dark golden brow eyes searched him out over Oliver's shoulder. "What are you doing over there? Don't you want to meet Rebecca?"

Thea nodded against Oliver's broad shoulder, but didn't budge. "If I let go of Ollie, he's probably going to do something stupid like be dead for almost four-years again by the time I get over there." She was partially joking, but there was a true layer of fear in her words.

"That's not going to happen, Speedy." Oliver said gruffly, holding his sister tight.

"I don't want to chance it," she squeezed him tighter, grabbing hand-full’s of the back of his gown. Tommy could just barely make out the edge of the dragon tattoo on the back of his shoulder through the tied opening of the gown.

"Well, you're just going to have to drag his ass over here with you." Tommy pointed out fondly. "Come on, My Queens!"

Thea hid her smile in his shoulder, and he obscured his own in her hair. She pressed against him, urging him backwards. He did, stepping back, following her instructions as she put pressure on either his right or left side, their feet shuffling together. His bare-toes, hers boot-clad.

Oliver's hip bumped into the foot of the bed, but Tommy just laughed. "A little more to the right, your right."

Oliver rolled his eyes at the other man. "Why don't I just do this?" Oliver suddenly snatched his sister up into his arms, she let out a squeak of surprise, and he turned on his heal and plopped her (gently of course) onto the side of the bed. "And I'm going to be right here." And he pulled the plastic chair close to the side of the bed, trapping her hanging legs between his own on the side of the bed. He yanked her boots off (because they were totally dripping melted snow on him), and shrugged off her coat and scarf. "Better?"

She nodded. She remembered when she was a little kid, how she would always come in when they were watching a moving, splayed on the cough and squeeze in between the two. That was the safest place she knew she could ever be. She didn't think she'd ever have that again, but somehow, here she was. She swallowed the sob.

She turned to Tommy, Rebecca cradled in his arms, wide-awake and wriggling around. "Tommy..." she gasped.

Tommy smiled. "Want to hold her?"

Thea nodded, her heart in her throat making her unable to say just how much. Oliver reached over and positioned her arms, and Tommy slowly leaned forward, placing Rebecca into her arms. "Hey, missy." She pressed her nose and lips into the dark-blond wisps of downy hair, Scenting. She could at least discern Tommy, Oliver, and Felicity. "Say hello to your auntie!" Thea cooed gently.

Oliver shot Tommy a quick, wide-eyed panicked look that clearly stated: _She knows!?_ Tommy shook his head.

They did manage to get in a two-minute discussion on that subject though, after Roy had left:

"Are we telling Thea the truth or the _truth?"_

"Which is the _truth_ and which is the truth?"

"No," Oliver corrected, "he said the truth or the _truth."_

"Well, I think we should tell her the _truth_ and not _the_ truth."

Tommy blinked at her. "What are— Are you doing this on purpose?

"No, you're confusing me!" Felicity growled, annoyed. "Just say what you mean."

"I mean, are we going to tell her what we're telling everyone else, or are we telling her about Oliver really being in Hong Kong—" ~

And then Thea was in the doorway. It didn't appear that she'd overheard anything. But it wasn't like they had made a decision on the matter either.

"Did Tommy tell you that he wanted to make Felicity and I God Mothers?" Thea gave Oliver a wide smile then grinned at Felicity, "We can be step-lesbian God Mothers together!"

"When you turn eighteen, give me a call." Felicity said with a completely straight-face that had everyone staring at her, and Thea bursting out in laughter. Rebecca gurgled in her own apparent amusement at the situation.

Thea grinned down at the baby. "You like that, huh?"

Oliver cleared his throat after sharing a look with Tommy and nodding his agreement. "Thea, there's something important that we have to tell you."

"Yeah?" she whispered, but her attention was focused on the babe in her arms. She wiggle her finger in the little palm and Rebecca Meghan grasped it.

"Thea." Oliver lightly grasped the teen's elbow, squeezing it lightly to gain her attention. She finally looked at him, her brows raised almost impatiently. He swallowed. "I'm Rebecca's other father."

There was a pause. Then, "What?!" she exclaimed, loud enough to startle a dosing Rebecca, making her start up a cry. "What the fuck do you mean?" no one attempted to scold her for the swear.

"Why don't I take her?" Felicity leaned across Tommy (shooting the teen an awkward, but not shocked look) and gently taking the crying baby. She cradled Rebecca against her chest, hushing and rocking her.

"Wait!" Thea looked at her, twisting, "You've known about this?"

Felicity shook her head. "I only found out the truth today."

"Mom?" Thea turned accusing eyes to the Alpha standing next to the closed door. There was no shock or surprise on her face either, it was obvious the blond woman knew. "How long have you known?"

"About a month." Moira told her. "Since I came to pick you up from the hospital a month ago."

"What? And you didn't tell me?" she demanded.

"No." Apparently, her mother wasn't going to give her anything, or explain.

"If what you're saying is true, then, then... Oliver was alive nine-months ago. You knew that he was alive. You knew... Tommy?" she turned to the Omega, her voice cracking. Tears brimmed her eyes, pleading for him to help make her understand.

Tommy's own blue-eyes were shinny with tears, guilt and regret on his tired face. "It's true, Thea." He whispered quietly. He didn't break eye contact, even though it hurt so much to watch her heart crumble in her eyes. "Oliver is Rebecca's other father."

"You lied to me. You knew my brother was alive this whole time! Whenever I went crying to you over him—all the times that you could have told me! Instead, you kept spinning shit to me about over time it wouldn't hurt as bad to think about him, to remember... you could have taken that pain away! You could have given me something to hope for."

Tommy let her work through her anger, confusion, betrayal. She deserved that, to feel this. But that didn't mean that it didn't hurt that it was directed at him. And it didn't mean that he didn't deserve it. "Thea—"

"How could you do that to me?!" she cried out. She just couldn't seem to understand why no one had thought to tell her the truth. Either of them. That Oliver was alive. That Rebecca really was her niece.

"I asked him not to." Oliver used his Alpha-voice and silence ringed in the room, punctuated by some heaving breathing, and Rebecca's post-cry sniffles and hiccups.

Her brother's Alpha-voice helped to steady her, calm her, whether she wanted that right now or not. She turned to the blond man. "Why?" she insisted. "I don't understand!"

"I was a stone, sharpened into an arrow." Oliver said.

"What?" she looked at him in confusion, but she wasn't the only one.

"Oliver." Tommy's fingers trailed over his wrist and squeezed his hand, in comfort and encouragement. _I'm here, not matter what_.

Oliver gave a brief squeeze back, before he let go of the Omega's hands and pushed back in the chair, putting some distance between him and everyone else in the room, feeling obscenely crowded. He closed his eyes, his hands curled on top of his thighs and he took several control deep breaths like Shado had taught him, centering him, calming him, preparing him.

Thea had felt trapped, liars on all sides of her. But now, the space that Oliver put between him and her—them—felt gaping, despite that it wasn't more than five-feet. She wanted the warmth of his legs around hers again. She'd let go of him, and just like she'd feared, he was disappearing from her fingers. She had done this, she'd put this distance between them, in her confusion and frustration. She just wanted it back!

Finally, on one last exhale, he opened his blue-eyes. "I was shipwrecked on that island for two-years. Learning to survive, loosing myself. Until this freighter came. I thought that I was finally free, that I was going home, that I was free from that hell hole. But something happened, there was an explosion, the ship started to sink. I thought I was going to die. I thought that I was dead. But when I woke up, I was in Hong Kong with a woman looking down on me saying that 'I had skills that she needed.' She held me against my will, forced me to work for her. I tried to get away several time; I managed to get a hold of a phone, but they deleted the message before it could be heard. Then I tried to log-in to my email. That was what sent Tommy to Hong Kong. She was going to have Tommy killed, but I managed to get to him first. He was going into Heat and you-know-what happened. And I convinced Tommy that he couldn't tell anyone back home that I was alive. It was too dangerous, for me, him, you guys."

In a sense, it was even more and even less that he had told Tommy back in Hong Kong. The only four other people in this room knew most of the whole truth. If he could help it, he was never going to go into more detail than that—at least not with his mother and sister—he'd trust Tommy with anything, and he needed Felicity's help. He didn't want to tell them about the blood on his hands. The grotesque landscape that Amanda Waller had carved into his muscle-memory.

Silence prevailed his wicked tale. He looked at each of them in turn, but more specifically, Thea. "You can't tell anyone, Speedy. It's too dangerous. They would come after us. No one can know, no one outside this room. Thea, please tell me you understand?"

Thea was quiet for a long moment, not looking at him. There was a slight tremor in her frame. "I understand," she whispered faintly. Then she stood and walked quickly passed her mother and out the door, her boots and coat forgotten and left behind.

"Shit," Tommy cursed quietly. "I'll go—" he threw off the blanket and started to get out of the bed, ignoring the pulling and ache in his abdomen.

"You can't, Jesus, Tommy!" Felicity hissed at him. "You just had a baby, for frak's sake. You need to rest. I'll go." She gently placed Rebecca back into the plastic bassinette at his bedside and left after the upset teenager.

Oliver exhaled heavily, his elbows on his knees, buried his face into his hands and made no further movement or sound.

"I'll take Thea home," Moira said. "She just needs a little time." She knew Oliver needed some space of his own right now, so even though she approached and collected Thea's boots and coat, she didn't touch him. She offered Tommy a small smile of farewell before she left, closing the door behind her.

And then it was just the three of them. Tommy reached over and put his hand in the bassinette, his palm spread over Rebecca's round little tummy, gently rocking and rubbing her, soothing her into sleep after all the commotion. He gently hummed, watching Oliver out of the corner of his eye. He would give the Alpha a minute, to gather himself, to process—before he would decide if he needed to do something.

But Oliver raised his head on his own, and looked across at the Omega with devastated eyes. "I shouldn't have done that," he confessed. "I shouldn't have told her all that. It was more than she should know. I just... I panicked and didn't know what else to do. It's not you she should be angry with, it's me. I made you keep it a secret. Do you think she’ll forgive me?"

"She's your sister. She loves you. Of course she will."

"Sometimes, I think that she loves you more than me." He whispered, but Tommy caught it anyways.

"Well, I can't blame her." He teased lightly. "I am easier to love than you."

"I don't know how you put up with me before," he said very openly. "How can you put up with me how I am now?"

"Hey, buddy. Come here a sec?"

Oliver looked at him for a moment, before he rose and cautiously approached the Omega and his all-too casual tone. He bent closer when Tommy crooked a finger at him. And then blinked in surprise when the Omega smacked him upside the head.

"I love you, you big Alpha dummy. I thought I already told that to you?" Tommy smiled, tugging on the front of his gown, urging the Alpha onto the edge of the bed. "Don't make me explain myself again."

"Yes, sir." He whispered into his neck. He nibbled the delicate flesh, making the dark-haired man shiver.

"Fuck," Tommy sighed, running his hand over Oliver's buzzed blond-hair. "Who would have thought I'd miss those greasy locks of yours?"

x—x

It was the next day and Tommy was dozing, just having fed Rebecca and using Oliver as a pillow as was becoming custom. The Alpha holding Rebecca in one arm against his chest, and holding Tommy with the other, the Omega's ear pressed over his heartbeat, surrounded by his scent. The room door opened, and Oliver looked up to see his little sister. Thea stared back, silent, her hazel-grey gaze flicker between the Alpha and unaware Omega as she stripped of her boots, coat, and scarf.

No words were exchanged as she approached the opposite side of the bed and climbed onto the precariously small edge. But she managed it, squishing behind Tommy, curling around his back. She used a curled arm under her head, propping it up as she rested her cheek against the back of the Omega's shoulder; her other carefully rested across him and she tangled her fingers with her brother's calloused ones.

Brother and sister locked eyes and everything that needed to be said was. The tension and unease from the previous night slowly melted away. The atmosphere became calm and quiet.

"Mm." Tommy sighed peaceably between them, blanketed in the siblings warmth and pheromones. _Safe. Home. Family._ Was their message.

**aRRoW**

_Laurel_ :

Tommy was almost dosing as he breast-feed Rebecca, half-reclined in the bed, his head laid back. His eyes were closed, his thumb brushing the little wrinkled fingers that just managed to wrap around his finger tip, as he hummed wordlessly. Feeding Rebecca, while it helped them bond, it also relieved the physical ache and pressure that built in his chest with the build up of his milk (along with the fact that he could swear that every time Oliver watched, he had to hold himself back from jumping the Omega's bones).

It was the intake of breath from the door that alerted him to the Alpha, before her scent of parchment and basil. "Laurel?" he mumbled and raised his head almost lethargically; he'd been in such a state of relaxed bliss, almost like a post-sex orgasm. He cleared his throat. "Laurel." He let his surprise register. "Wow. I didn't think I'd see you."

She stood in the doorway, coat and purse thrown over her arm. She seemed almost breathless as she looked at him. And there was that same ache inside of her that she had been getting ever since she'd run into him at The Big Belly Burger and they'd had that little talk. It was an ache of something valuable, lost. Ever since she'd found out that he was pregnant, she was starting to realize just exactly what it was that she had missed with the pregnancy scare. Seeing him, holding his daughter; how beautiful, at peace, happy and sure of himself. She'd always thought him sexy. And now, with his dark bed-mussed hair—being a father just _suited_ him. She just silently mourned the fact that it wasn’t _her_ baby with him.

"Um," she cleared her throat and gave herself an internal shake. She slowly stepped forward. "I heard that you gave birth. I wanted to see you, congratulate you." She gave a small smile. "And, I got you this." She pulled her purse in front of her and opened it. She pulled out some weird-shaped green thing. She fully approached his beside this time and sat on Felicity's abandoned chair, putting her coat and purse over the back. She held it up for him to see.

Yeah, it was definitely green. It was the size of about both of his palms together. It appeared to be a frog, with long legs, but it appeared to be hollow and it's stomach was made of weird netting. He furrowed his brow at it. "What is it?" he questioned.

"Well, it can actually be used for a lot of things. See how it's hollow?" he nodded. "You use it for a bottle holder, especially when she get's older and you put your milk in a bottle, and she does it mostly herself. You put the bottle in the stomach, and the nipple comes out the mouth. See? Or you can do the same thing with a pacifier. Put it through the mouth, and then to comfort her, you can put something with your scent in it in the stomach and she can snuggle with it at the same time."

"Wow." Tommy breathed. He gentle extracted his finger from Rebecca's grip and took the frog from Laurel, his fingers brushing her hand. He rubbed it between his fingers, testing its weight. "It's really soft," he said.

She nodded. "The material's machine washable, and really durable, too."

"Thanks, Laurel. This is really awesome. You didn't have to do that." He put the frog over the curve of his knee under the blanket, petting the soft green material wrinkle-free and under it looked like he had a two dimensional frog on his leg.

Laurel brushed it off. The truth was, she'd had it for a couple years. She'd gotten it after the pregnancy scare, that for a moment had gotten her thinking about what her future might have held, before she threw herself into finishing school so she could become a lawyer. But he didn't need to know that.

"Ngh." Rebecca released his nipple wetly and started to squirm in his arms. He took the spit-up towel and wipped the spit and smilk from around her mouth.

"Do you want to burp her?" he asked, seeing Laurel watching intently.

She looked at him in surprise. "What? Really?" she asked.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I'm kind of a mess right now." And true; there was Rebecca's slobber at over his lightly furred left peck and still some milk leakage from her enthusiastic encouragement while she fed that always made it really flow.

"Um, sure. Alright." She took a deep breath and stood from the chair, leaning over and carefully taking the fussing baby from his arms and holding her upright at her shoulder, the small towel thrown over her shoulder to ward off any spit-up.

The scents most on the pup, were Tommy, and... Oliver. She could never forget the Alpha's scent. The whole world would know of Oliver's return by now, three days since he'd been flown back to Starling City. Of course, she'd been rather busy trying to keep her dad's drinking under control, and trying to reign in her own feelings on the matter—that it had given her no room or time to think that of course Oliver would be visiting Tommy. They were best-friends since childhood, brothers. Tommy was a Queen in all-but name. Tommy and Oliver had always been inseparable, so why wouldn't they be together in a tough time for them both, especially when they coincidently were in the hospital at the same time? But the last she'd remembered, Oliver was never really the child-care-type. So why was his as prominent on the baby as Tommy's?

She carefully rubbed and patted the baby's back, gently rocking, as she watched Tommy out of the corner of her eye.

He took a wet wipe from the side table and started to clean himself off. Laurel had seen him naked, she kissed him and sucked probably every part of him that _could_ be sucked or licked (including his nipples), she'd had her Alpha-cock up his Slick ass, heck, she'd _licked_ his Slick-dripping asshole. Just as surely as he'd been inside of her. But somehow, _this_ seemed all the much more intimate.

"Have you thought about having kids?" his question caught her by surprise. "I mean, I know we both weren't really keen on it a few years ago. But what about now? I mean, I know my opinion on the matter has definitely changed." He smiled and reached up to gently rub Rebecca's back, his finger's overlapping hers.

Her gaze flickered to his for a moment before she looked back down at Rebecca Meghan, of his hand over hers and shoved back the wave of emotion that wanted to fill her. "I guess I just haven't found the right guy yet."

"Yeah..." he bit the inside of his cheek. He felt a bucket of guilt just get suddenly thrown in his face. God, when the truth came out. He couldn't imagine the effect that it would have on the Alpha lawyer. He knew she loved Oliver. She'd been devastated when they were given the news that _The Gambit_ went down and Robert and Oliver were killed— _and_ Sara.

Her mourning and grief had been tainted and poisoned. Her long-time boyfriend had cheated on her, by not with just anyone, but her younger sister. Now, they were both dead. Her sister was dead. Her boyfriend was dead. But her sister was dead because her boyfriend had decided to cheat on her with _her sister_ and take her on a yacht trip. It was all so twisted and fucked up to get any type of closure. Which was soon piled on top with her own guilt for trying to come to terms with the fact that not only had Oliver cheated on her, but her sister had made the clear choice of being a part of that. But now, years later, it was just hate and grief at Oliver because he'd gotten her baby sister killed.

"You will, Laurel." She just gave him a tight smile.

"Here." He slipped his arms back into the gown sleeves and took Rebecca and the lightly soiled towel from Laurel. "I should probably go," she stated, still feeling the warmth from his hand on hers and suddenly just needing to _get out of there_! before _something_ _else she wasn't ready for_ happened. "Goodbye, Tommy."

"Bye."

She turned and grabbed her coat, heading for the door. Tommy sighed, trying to settle Rebecca as watched her go. He was sure that _he_ was the one that had driven her away. And if things hadn't become awkward before, they were now—and boy, did he wish _he_ could have left, because when Laurel was about to leave, and in stepped Oliver... even Rebecca quieted down at the tense atmosphere.

"Oliver," she said tightly.

"Laurel," he returned, a different kind of tightness to his voice. The truth was, the last few days he'd spent here with Tommy and Rebecca; he hadn't thought of what he'd done to Laurel or how it was his fault that Sara was dead. And he felt it, the guilt, regret, all of it start to well inside of him the longer he stared at her. He couldn't only imagine what this was doing to her, with her past with him, with her past with Tommy.

Tommy was almost afraid to move, and Rebecca must have felt the sentiment. They didn't say anything. Laurel couldn't deal with this, not when seeing Tommy like this had brought up more old memories and feelings. She just couldn't, and with that, she needed to _go._

"Should I say congratulations to you, too?" she whispered as she passed him and quickly disappeared down the hall. Her voice _did_ _not_ crack.

Oliver looked after her, not sure if she meant about him being alive (for which he surely doubted), or that she'd somehow realized that he was a new father just as much as Tommy.

"Oliver?" Tommy asked. "Are you okay?"

Oliver gave hishead a little shake and when he turned to Tommy, he had a little smile pasted on his dry lips. But that soon turned genuine as he approached the Omega and his daughter. "I'm okay."

"Do you want to hold her?" he said knowingly.

"Do you even have to ask?" the Alpha returned.

Tommy grinned and shifted over on the bed, giving Oliver room. The Alpha slid easily into the small bed next to him, settling comfortably before he took Rebecca into his arms. Tommy shifted himself, laying against the Alpha's strong and warm side, his head laid on his shoulder, Rebecca in his sight held in Oliver's opposite arm.

"What's that?" Oliver asked, indicating the green-thing laying on Tommy's leg.

"Oh," Tommy petted it briefly. "Laurel gave it me, something for Rebecca."

"Oh." Oliver's throat tightened briefly. He changed the subject and his tone became easily lighter, "How are you feeling?"

"Perfectly content," his eyes were half-hooded. "You know how feeding her always makes me feel. Almost high and really wanting to take a nap."

"You fed her without me?" he protested lightly.

Tommy snorted and teased, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were starting to developed a kink." He knew that wasn't what it was about. He was sure he felt the same thing whenever he even saw Oliver just holding Rebecca, taking care of her. It was sexy as fuck.

Oliver huffed his own laugh, then sighed lightly. He pressed a kiss to Rebecca, before he did the same with Tommy, though this one much more lingering and sexual, as he nuzzled the Omega's head lightly. "Just know," Oliver whispered huskily, making the Omega shiver, "The next time we have sex, I'm going to show you just how you make me feel."

"Fuck," Tommy gasped, his arm tightening around the Alpha's waist where his arm was looped around his clothed midsection.

"Soon." His breath was warm across the dark-haired man's forehead, reminding him of the time back in Hong Kong, their first kiss. It must have reminded Oliver of the same thing, too. The Alpha rose the Omega's chin and ducked his own head, kissing him.

Tommy moaned as he felt Oliver's tongue caress his lips before doing the same to his own tongue, heatedly. They started to shift—It was only Rebecca's grunt that brought them back to the present, and halted them from any further action.

Tommy chuckled dryly and laid back against Oliver. "In a couple days, I'm sure we'll think _this_ was a simpler time."

**aRRoW**

Tommy was starting to really hate the hospital, he just wanted to get out of here, sleep in his own cloud-haven of a bed (fuck, he loved that thing). He wanted to be able to curl up with Rebecca there, have Oliver hold him without fear of exactly who might see them, though really, the last four days, they hadn't been really cautious either. He wanted to eat _food_. Though there was a pleasant day when Carly and Diggle came to visit, bearing very greasy and favourable gifts. Carly knew exactly what he was going through with this week-one post-pregnancy hospital stay, though her babies came out more naturally. God, that Big Belly Burger Special with an Extra Large Chocolate Shake (hell, XL everything) darn near put him in his own little food-coma after all that 'thin' hospital food. It was fantastic, even if it made him start to sweat grease and Oliver claimed that he smelled and even tasted like fast-food.

They were in their own bubble, but that was pretty much popped now:

**"** _Thomas Merlyn, the only son and child of Starling's own Merlyn Global Group's CEO, Malcolm Merlyn, has been from the lime-light since the reported deaths of shipwrecked passengers aboard_ The Queen's Gambit _. Tommy was known from accompanying his Alpha best-friend Oliver Queen, on many misadventures, that ranged from attacking paparazzi to urinating on a police officer._

_"After going into a tail-spin the first-year when police had finally confirmed the passengers of_ The Queen's Gambit _to be deceased instead of M.I.A., it was almost a common occurrence to find the young Merlyn drinking in clubs, taking drugs, arrests for public drunkenness, disturbing the peace, etc._

_"But as of these last couple years, Thomas Merlyn has been scarce from the tabloids. Where has this young billionaire been hiding? ----"_

_"Speculation is wide-ranging. Believed to be a Beta, that is in fact, not the truth. Taking Suppressants to cover his true dynamic, the Merlyn heir is in fact an Omega. (Was he ashamed of his dynamic?) ----"_

_"Mr. Oliver Queen wasn't the only one who seemed to suddenly wash ashore. Sources at Starling General confirm... Thomas Merlyn was brought into the hospital early morning, three-days ago, just three hours prior to Oliver Queen_ — _in labour._

" _Who is the other parent to this pup?----"_

"Those fucking bastards!" Tommy shouted, his grip white-knuckled on the tablet in his lap, silencing the video on screen, unable to listen to it anymore. His rose his hands, clearly intending to fling the thing across his room.

"Whoa!" Felicity lunged forward and snatched one of her several babies from his hands. She hugged it to her chest and gave him an accusing stare.

"Who the fuck do they think they are?" Tommy fumed. "Thinking they can talk about my baby, likes it's any of their fucking business who her other father is. If I ever see any of them, if they ever try to go near Rebecca—I'll ripe them to fucking pieces!"

Oliver reached over from where he stood at the Omega's bedside and carded his fingers through the livid man's dark-mussed hair, trying to soothe him, even if he was tense with his own angry. Talking about him (coming back from the dead and all) was one thing, but going after Tommy and his daughter, was unacceptable.

Moira could smell the fury in his pheromones on the other side of the room. Even as their heady scent caressed Tommy's own anger, it brought him back from seeing red. Felicity, being as Beta, was like being blind to pheromones, could smell the anger pheromones rolling off the Alpha man.

"Alright," she took a deep breath. "Everyone needs to chill out right now. This is exactly what we expected to happen. This was why we created a plan."

"Argh!" Tommy let out a growl of irritation, anger, frustration, and helplessness, scrubbing his face with his hands before he sat up and looked at her. He gave a heavy sigh. "Speaking of that... did you do what you needed?"

Felicity raised a brow at him that said all she needed. God, sometimes her compute genius scared him. He knew that if she ever wanted to, she could take over the Web and then the world.

"Yes," Moira spoke. "I'll have Jean release a press announcement on the matter tonight in response to this broadcast. 'No Comment,' will no longer suffice. Now that the press has their teeth sunk into this, they will not let it go unless we detour them. They've held off thus far regarding Oliver's return with some respect, giving him time, but now that they’ve turned to Tommy in connection with Oliver..." she left the rest unsaid but not misunderstood.

"So, what exactly is this press release going to say?" Tommy asked wearily. Oliver was still running his fingers through his hair, but somewhere in the conversation, it had changed from simple carding to something that included kneading his scalp, the tightening and releasing of his hair, tugging that had him fighting back the groan and _purr_ and his dick was definitely stirring in the freedom under his gown.

"That the baby is in fact Oliver's." Felicity gave the pair an outline. "I've been going through some past articles and tabloid segments on the two of you, and I've found various references and speculations that you two have actually been on secret dates, were having sex, were best-friends with benefits, a Romeo-and-Juliet-unrequited theme in your relationship. So I doubt they'll find it much of a leap that when it's said that you went to the clinic and got Oliver's sperm, then flew to Hong Kong and went a special facility there where they inseminate and implant, then came back five day's later, pregnant."

"Was I that obvious?" he deadpanned.

"I knew it the second I met you and you said Oliver's name," Felicity told him.

"Well..." he didn't really have anything to counter with and left it at that. "And what about Oliver and I being together?"

"As I said, the past speaks for itself. You two have been in love with each other, and now that you have a child together, you're just being more open about it this time around."

"Well, that's a weight off my back." Oliver muttered.

"I actually thought it would be more complicated than that." The Omega admitted.

"Be glad that it isn't." Moira said. "Simple is what we want."

"So," Oliver raised a brow at the young blond, his gaze flickering over her knowingly. "How exactly complicated was it before you made it simple, Felicity?"

"Oh. I got into the clinic where you made your 'special donation,'" Felicity said to Oliver, "Typed the order to have the specimen incinerated with all the other unusables, then changed the records to a 'transfer,' order with the medical facility's address in Hong Kong. Then I hacked into the Hong Kong network, and created a false appointment and insemination with Tommy's name. The flight records are already there, and then the rest of the records throughout the pregnancy are at the Clinic in the Glades and here at Starling General. There's a paper-trail, a money-trail. It's all covered." She shrugged, a little embarrassed under the stare of combined-three. She cleared her throat awkwardly, shifting uncomfortably. "So... that's all."

"Have I ever told you how amazing you are?" Tommy told her sincerely. "Felicity... when we get home, I'm going to give you a whole sheet of Gold Stars."

She laughed. "Only one?"

"Two," he corrected. There was a beat of silence, and then the Omega and Beta burst out laughing.

The two Alphas shared a brief look. This was not an uncommon occurrence. But maybe, this whole thing was going to be as uncomplicated as it appeared. Oliver was back from the dead. Tommy and Oliver were together. They had Rebecca, happy and healthy. The press and tabloids were be off there back soon enough.

Uncomplicated, easy, simple... Ha!

**aRRoW**

Malcolm:

It was the fifth day in the hospital and the day that they were finally releasing Tommy, and Rebecca. And coincidently, it was one of the few times he was left alone in all that week—the others were preparing the apartment for his and Rebecca's homecoming (and the only thing that could mean, was a Congratulations/Welcome Home Party)—that in came the last person he wanted to see, hear from, Scent, or see his daughter.

His not so beloved father, Malcolm Merlyn.

His consciousness and instinct were in totally synchronisation as he rolled from the bed and onto his feet, blanket flying aside as he planted his fuzzy-socked feet on the cold-tiled floor. He was in a pair of his loose-fitting pregnancy track pants, a stripped long-sleeve shirt, and a dark-blue sweater over that, finally out of that fucking hospital gown and just in time to face-off against his father (whom he hadn't laid eyes on since he packed his bags and left nine-months ago). He felt the stitches pull at the fast, unchecked movement, but pain was the last thing on his mind as he stood between his daughter (in the plastic hospital bassinette beside the bed) and his father.

"Hello, Tommy." The bastard actually had the nerve to smile at him. "Congratulations are in order, I believe? I heard there were complications with the labour, but you pulled through well."

"What are you doing here?" Tommy growled.

Malcolm looked completely at ease. "I came to see you, of course."

"Oh, _now_ you want to see me? What about when I was attacked a month ago? Why didn't come and see me then? Huh? You couldn't have cared less when I was beaten and could have died. What could have possibly have changed?" he sneered sarcastically, rolling his eyes in disgust.

Malcolm sighed plaintively. "I see you haven't grown up since last we spoke." He said it like the last time they were in a room together, he didn't try and physically manhandle and dynamic-intimidate the Omega into getting an abortion. It was almost laughable if it wasn't so demented.

"Oh, believe me, I've learned a lot. Like just how much I _don't_ need _you_ or your _money._ I've been the happiest I've been in my life since mom died without you in my life—what could possibly make you think that I would want you back in it?"

"I'm your father, Tommy."

"Ha!" Tommy actually did laugh at that. "Oh, my God!" he wrapped an arm around his stomach, and put a hand to his head. "Are you fucking serious, Malcolm? Have you gone completely delusional and senile while I've been gone? Other than the fact that I **hate** you and don't want you in my life, one of the last things you said to me were: _You are no son of mine_. So how exactly are you my father now?"

"I will always be your father, son." There was such conviction and certainty in his voice, that if Tommy was a stranger, he might have believed him. But Tommy was far from a stranger. "It doesn’t matter how much we fight, that can never change. I know we had a disagreement the last we saw each other on how to handle the pregnancy—and I will admit to be overzealous in my response—but you have to understand, I was only trying to do what was best for you." His expression was so earnest. "I didn’t think you were ready. But just as I suspected, kicking you out and cutting you off forced you to grow up… and look at you now." He spread his arms lightly, smiling white teeth. There was nothing soothing or comforting about that smile, it was like looking into the face of a shark. "My beautiful boy, I always knew you had it in you."

Tommy gave a small shudder at that last bit, and stared at him in utter disbelief. "You’re trying to take credit for this now? After everything you did to me that night? All that _I_ have worked for, all that _I_ have earned. How could you even begin to think—"

"Being a parent is about making hard choices, son." Malcolm instantly Scented the Alpha enter behind him. He didn't have to know the scent to presume that it was Robert's son.

Oliver stopped, just on the edge of Malcolm's peripheral vision, a great offensive position. Set the Alpha on alert and on edge, while providing Tommy with the intimidation factor, but not over-powering the Omega’s own condemnation of Malcolm.

"Ah, Oliver." Malcolm commented casually. "Did you have fun Knotting my son?"

"How could I have very-well done that stuck on an island for the last three-years and nine-months?" Oliver said lowly. "And what happens with us and what we do in the future, is not your concern."

Malcolm gave a one-sided smirk at the young Alpha's controlled response. "Yes, that deserted island. That was in the North China Sea, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was. Your point?"

"Hm. I imagine to mean..." he looked at Tommy with a cruel set of eyes, "So close, yet so far away. You never could hit the proper mark, could you son? You couldn't have the Alpha, so you settled for his spent come. I really had thought I raised you better than that."

Tommy clenched his hands into fists. "What you did wasn't raise me. You tried to train me like a fucking animal. I am really surprised that you didn't try to get me to call you _master_ instead of _dad_."

Malcolm sighed like it was some great burden. "Thomas, were both adults here. Can't we move on?" Tommy snorted in derision. "A pup's got have a grandfather. Without _Robert_ to fill that roll, she has only me. You can't take that away from her."

"Are you fucking kidding me? You'll never be a part of my daughter's life. You gave up that privilege when you wanted her aborted." He told the Alpha succinctly. Oliver growled menacingly at the reminder (and to have the Alpha in front of him now? oh...); a warning and a threat.

Malcolm immediately sensed the changed threat level of the young Alpha behind him as he emitted a low warning growl. Gone was the irresponsible, playboy Alpha who's influence Malcolm dusted from his shoulder like a piece of fuzz. No, the island had changed him. Oliver, as an Alpha, as a rival, was a very applicable threat now. "We'll discuss this at another time, Thomas." He said in _that_ tone.

Tommy gritted his teeth so hard that it was nearly audible. "You are not even fucking listening to me. Are you deaf, old man? Stay the fuck out of my life, and stay the hell away from our daughter! The day you get your hands on her, is the day I'm dead beyond repair."

"Tommy, you are my son, I am your father... you can't keep my granddaughter away from me."

"Like hell I can't!" he snarled and started to slowly close the distance between them. "Now get the fuck out before I really lose my shit!"

Malcolm watched him, unimpressed. He repressed the eye roll. He could easily dominate the Omega, but the blond Alpha was a wildcard. He would take a step back for now, clearly his son just needed a little time to sort through his post-pregnancy hormones and then he'd be of a more steady and rational mind. He'd keep his toe in his son's life, he'd wait it out. He was a patient man. He was dedicated to his cause. He had slowly been playing his pieces for the last nineteen-years after all. He could easily wait fourteen to eighteen for this—and if God was gracious, his granddaughter would be an Alpha. Tommy was an anomaly between Rebecca and himself, but Moira and Robert had produced two Alphas. The odds for a true heir to the Merlyn name were looking suitable.

"Alright." Malcolm acquiesced. He looked over the incensed Omega's shoulder and could just make out the squirming form of the pup in the clear plastic bassinette provided by the hospital. "I can wait to meet my granddaughter... until you're feeling a little more yourself."

Tommy gave a low growl in answer. "Leave. Now."

Malcolm turned and came face-to-face with Oliver Queen. "Oliver," he looked the poised Alpha up and down. "You've seen better days. That island was clearly not for you betterment." And then he was gone.

Oliver inhaled very long and sharply through his nose, shoving and packing away his primal Alpha that had been less than a hair's breadth from killing that bastard. He had to do it a few more times before he got complete control of his own (reactive) emotion, before he could focus on the Omega.

Tommy hadn't moved from the spot where he'd approached the Alpha. In fact, he was in the same bodily position, the same offensive posture. His fists were clenched at his sides, white-knuckled from the force. His chest was heaving as if he'd just done a dash. His shoulders were shaking with all that he repressed, all that he had _held back_ from his father because of the conscious fact that Rebecca Meghan was _right_ behind him. His usually light and humoured blue-eyes were dark and cloudy with his resounding emotion. His eyes trained on the same spot that Malcolm had been, and though they were filled with hate, anger, disgust—there was an _unseeing_ quality to them that put fear into the blond Alpha's heart. If Oliver had thought that Tommy had been angry when he'd listened to what the tabloids had to say about his situation, this, what he was seeing now, didn't even come close to the adjective.

He needed to approach the Omega with caution. Tommy was in Omega-primal right now. Oliver could Scent it. Tommy's projecting pheromones warned away approach. Oliver rolled his shoulder, and emitted very direct Alpha pheromones towards the man. S _afe, friend, Mate, your Alpha, love._ He cautiously stepped forward, everything in his posture was submissive, something rather difficult for the Alpha after the island where submissive got you captured and killed.

"Tommy." Oliver murmured. "It's over. He's gone. You made him leave. You were strong. So good. Tommy, please come back to me." The last one came out begging. Though he was closer to the Omega, he wasn't crowding in his 'bubble,' that would feel to much like intimidation.

But Tommy didn't snap out of it, didn't even indicate that he _recognized_ Oliver, even as he body minutely reacted to the close proximity of an Alpha. The only relief that Oliver could take out of it, was that it wasn’t an active 'in-danger' reaction.

Oliver was afraid that he might have to insert his 'Alpha dominance' over the Omega to snap him out of this and that was the last thing he wanted to do. That was something he never wanted to have to do to Tommy, **ever** , in a million years. Oliver was sure that it would break something in their relationship. Never once had he done it, to anyone, let alone Tommy. No matter how heated an argument got between them, not when they were play-wrestling, not even when it got so heated between them that they fought for real. He could never do that to the Omega. The last thing he wanted to do was show _any_ kind of force.

But the fear of action was needless. Rebecca started to cry and Tommy instantly snapped out of his self-possession. He didn't even look at Oliver, just spun on his fuzzy-socked heel, and strode to the plastic bassinette. He gently picked up the crying pup and cradled her in his arms against his chest, all traces of anger and hate vanished from him and his pheromones, and all that was left was love, caring, and protectiveness, all directed at his daughter.

"Shh, shh." Tommy hushed her, rocking gently. "I've got you now. I'm right here." He rubbed her back, soothing her. "That's it, little genie." He whispered as she started to quiet down, his lips against her soft flesh, he kissed the tears from her chubby little cheeks. "He's never going to touch you. He will never exist in your world, I won't let him."

Oliver was silent and stayed where he was, clad in the clothes that Thea had brought him; at a loss whether to give the Omega his space, or crowd him like he so wanted to do. To just hold him. Fuck, he so wanted to shove them into a nest and never let them out again. They would be his and only his, no one would touch them. He'd keep them safe. He'd—

"I want to go home, Ollie." His voice cracked gently, and when he turned to look at the other man, there was unshed tears in his dark eyelashes.

Oliver nodded firmly and picked up the car seat that he'd left at the door, some baby clothes and a blanket folded in the seat. He set it on the hospital bed. And they dressed her without words, she was definitely cranky after her cry and their 'parent-handling' was helping. But they got it done.

She was dressed in a thermal one-piece and a jumper, with socks as thick and fuzzy as his own. They put her in the car seat that Oliver had brought up with him, and gave her little mitts, and a wool hat with flaps at the ears that depicted a little puppy. Then a blanket went over the car seat to protect her from the cold and harsh winter winds on the trip from the hospital to the car, the from the car to the apartment.

"Hey," Oliver said softly. He put his hand gently on Tommy's lower back, a gesture of comfort and gaining his attention. "I won't ever let him near you like that again. If he even thinks about coming near you or our daughter... I will kill him." He caressed his cheek, not breaking eye-contact.

Tommy gave a small smile, and some of the stress around his eyes lifted. "If you kill him, you'll go to prison. And I'm not having you leave me again for twenty-years this time."

"You're assuming I'll get caught," Oliver replied back seriously, "Trust me, I won't."

"I love you, Ollie." He said simply. "But if anyone if going to kill Malcolm Merlyn—it's going to be me." He leaned forward and pecked him on the lips. "Now let's get the fuck out of here," he put on his winter boots, wrapped the black scarf around his neck (that seriously needed a wash right about now; covered in his dry spit, sweat, and smelling of hospital), and zipped up his winter coat, "before something else tries to stop us."

Oliver picked up the car seat and followed the Omega from the room, and headed for the elevator that would take them to the same doors that Oliver had taken when he was first brought to the hospital, out of sight of the reporters.

Tommy just wanted to go home, get Rebecca into territory that he _knew_ and could defend. And such thoughts were not crazy when in regards to his father. He knew Malcolm would back off for now, but it was only a matter of time before the man tried again. The Omega knew it wasn’t because the Alpha loved his granddaughter (or maybe in some sick way, as he did with Tommy, he thought it was love), her wanted to use her. She was a ‘blank-Merlyn’ that he could mould to his liking. But really, it would all depend on the pup’s dynamic in the end, Tommy was sure. Tommy knew he would love his daughter no matter her dynamic, no matter what she decided to be in life (but secretly and guiltily, very deep down, he prayed that she wouldn’t become an Alpha so there was a greater chance that Malcolm would leave them all the fuck alone).

[tbc]

**aRRoW**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this was my longest chapter yet! What did you think? I gave some line-time to Walter, and brought back Laurel and not to forget Malcolm (he’s gotten loads crazy since we last saw him, eh?).   
> P.S: So, here are some deleted bits for this chapter. Whatever, I'm posting them here; it's the only way they'll see the light of day:  
> "We can try both and see which you prefer," the doctor assured him. (pump v. breastfeeding).  
> xx  
> When Roy came rushing into the room after getting Thea's call (the Alpha totally knew Felicity wasn't going to call), there was an awkward moment as Oliver blocked his way, barring further entrance.   
> Oliver could smell Tommy on the young Beta, though the Omega's scent was more diluted than it was on Felicity, who almost practically had Tommy coming out of her pores. It wasn't a wonder why people always thought they were Mates.  
> xx  
> She'd been pacing, worried the last few hours. After that first call with Felicity as the Beta told her that they were rushing Tommy to the OR for an emergency C-Section, she'd felt useless. And being inactive, with the anxiety of Oliver's return from the dead—well, at least Walter was a every calming British influence. She wasn't angry that Felicity never did call back, Thea knew the Beta would have a lot on her plate. She was just frustrated that she was the one left floundering and waiting (she knew it was because she was only sixteen almost to be seventeen in just a couple weeks). She was going to share a birthday month with her (unbeknownst blood-related) niece, which made up for it a little bit.   
> But she'd definitely called Roy. She knew the blond Beta enough that she wouldn't even as she promised. She couldn't go to the hospital for Oliver, she couldn't go for Tommy; so she was going to sick Roy on them and he'd be her inside Spy. She was totally sure that Moira had asked Walter to make sure she didn't try to take off for the hospital anyway, but he would have stuck with the young Alpha anyways, he was caring like that.  
> But finally, hours later, after a recent text from Roy telling her that everything was cool at the hospital; (Tommy was doing great, the baby was cute and healthy, Felicity had her nose buried in her tablet... her brother was one scary ass dude); the mansion's hard-line rung and Walter answered it. She instantly knew that it was from Moira, just from the first hello.  
> xxx  
> "Are we telling Thea the truth or the truth?"  
> "Which is the truth and which is the truth?"  
> "No, I said the truth or the truth."  
> "Well, I think we should tell her the truth and not the truth.”  
> Tommy blinked at her. "What are... Are you doing this on purpose?”  
> "No, you're confusing me!" she growled, annoyed. "Just say what you mean.”  
> "I mean, are we going to tell her what we're telling everyone else, or are we telling her about Oliver really being in Hong Kong—"  
> "What about Hong Kong?" Thea asked, coming into the room.  
> They stopped talking instantly and looked at her.  
> "Uh, guys?" The teen's step faltered and she paused. "Is everything okay? Why do I feel like I just walked into a room that was talking about me?"  
> "You did."  
> "Ookay." She said slowly. "Can I ask, or do you want me to step out so you can decide?"  
> o—o  
> Thea: "I'm great, of course you're always talking about me, even when I'm not there. I'm the most likable Queen after all.”  
> xxx  
> "People seem to be guessing that Oliver is somehow the father faster than I was anticipating." Tommy admitted, "I thought we wouldn't have to worry about it at least until we were released from the hospital. I mean, what the hell? Everybody knows that were best-friends, so why the hell wouldn't he be here visiting me?"  
> "Yeah, but has he even been home since he's gotten back to Starling? The doctors only wanted to keep Oliver for the night and then release him, but he hasn't even stepped foot out of the hospital. The nurses are probably already talking. We discovered what gossips they can be," Felicity muttered, remembering how she'd found out about Oliver being alive and brought to Starling City in the first place.  
> "We make a PR statement." Moira said. "Unfortunately, No Comment will no longer sate them. Not with all the drama with Oliver coming back from the dead. And now there been a leak about Tommy being in the hospital and that he has given birth. They find it almost as juicy as Oliver's return."   
> xxx  
> Tommy was still, his fists clenched at his sides, his chest was panting, his form was shaking. His blue-eyes blazed with hate and anger and disgust. He was fucking furious. If Oliver thought he'd been angry about that shit in the tabloids about him, this didn't even come close to that adjective.  
> #  
> (Malcolm finds out that Tommy is having a Queen baby and takes interest now that he know his grandchild isn't a 'bastard and mongrel'. Tommy tells him to fuck off.)


	10. The Bib's Edge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~ Some more baby stuff, and Tommy/Oliver smut. ~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Sorry it took so long to post this thing. Have I said: Argh! Writing Babies? Because Argh! Still Writing Babies!

Tommy groaned pitifully, kicking off his blanket like a tantruming child. He rolled from the bed in the dark, half-awake, and walked through the soft glow of the nightlight to the crib across the room against the wall, scrubbing his eyes. He reached into the crib and picked the wailing baby up with her blankie. He cradled her against his t-shirt clad chest, gently rocking her and hushing her, even as he backed up until he was at the bed again and sat on the edge.

The first two-weeks home had gone so smooth, the encounter with Malcolm before leaving the hospital was all but forgotten and put aside as he focused on adapting to being a parent.

As Tommy had predicted, there'd been a welcome home party, which was great:

The cold of mid-winter nipped at him, even the short distance it took to get from the hospital's back exit, to the waiting car. His fingers were already chilled and he immediately checked on Rebecca set between them in the backseat as the doors shut, closing them into the heated car. He pulled the blanket back and tucked in around her; somewhere from the room to the car, she'd dozed from her earlier cry, unaffected by the cold—which was just fine with both the fathers.

Tommy looked across at the Alpha. "Do you know how to hook it in?"

"Felicity showed me." Oliver pulled the middle belt from under the car seat, careful not to jolt the baby. But that seemed as far as he went.

Amusement lighted the Omega's blue-eyes, vanishing the last remnants of shadow from the unwanted encounter with his father. "And how long ago did she show you?"

Oliver looked over at him, his lips in a dour set of stubborn determination—and he looked just so damn cute. "This morning." Tommy tried to stifle the snigger. "Hey. This is more difficult than manually disarming a missile launcher the size of a truck under gunfire."

"That's oddly specific," he mused. He reached across the back of the seat and cupped the curve of the Alpha's neck under the collar of his coat, the pad of his thumb stroking the line. "But agreed, this is definitely not rocket science."

"Funny." He deadpanned, even as he relaxed under the man's touch.

"I thought so." He grinned. "And look... there's a diagram right here." With his free hand, the Omega lifted the side of the seat cover, revealing a instructional diagram on how to secure the car seat in the car.

"They definitely don't have that," Oliver agreed. After studying the diagram for a moment, he set to work, and in under five-minutes, the car seat was secure. He told the driver to go, as two more seatbelts clicked into place.

As they left Starling General's lot, they passed by the seemingly oblivious vultures that circled around the entrance of the hospital, talons hooked into cameras and microphones—a week after Oliver's survival, and a day after the announcement of parenthood for the both of them—but they were wheeling around a carcass they weren't going to find. Thank God for idiots.

Oliver sat back. "Maybe next time you should do it?"

"No way," his arm was still stretched across the back of the seat, the tips of his fingers brushing that hair at the nape of the Alpha's neck. They both needed some sort of contact right now. "I like watching you work."

He knew how to hook the car seat in himself, of course. As soon as he'd gotten the thing, like everything else—he practiced. He remembered him and Felicity spending an hour in the backseat of her car, wrestling and cursing with the thing, trying to get the seatbelt hooked around it properly (Oliver was definitely a quick study). He studied like he was back in collage—and yes, he ready did study back then—because when Rebecca finally came into the world, he wanted to know what he was doing. He wanted to walk instead of crawl, and later, his goal would definitely be to run.

"Besides," Tommy moved his hand from Oliver's neck, and took the man's hand, tangling their fingers together, resting them at Rebecca's feet, her facing towards the seat instead of outward like it was instructed to do when the pups were this young, "You always were good with your hands."

o—o

They arrived at the apartment building, the driver pulling up to the front door, so the dash from the car, into the lobby was even shorter than it was at the hospital.

Tommy grinned as he found Felicity waiting for them in the lobby.

"Give me, give me." She made grabby-hands at the car seat. Amusement flared in the Omega's eyes, but he passed her the car seat. She pulled the blanket back, and totally cooed at the sleeping baby. "Hey, there little pup."

"What about me?" Tommy questioned.

"Meh," she totally disregarded him. "You're old news now that our little genie is here."

"I didn't know you were such a meanie."

"Here, a consolation prize." And she put a Gold Star on his pouting lips.

"Okay," a grin split his lips, the Gold Star deciding it liked his upper lip better than his bottom. "You can have her for now, but I definitely want her back."

She raised her chin inquiringly, a serious(ly amused) look in her blue-eyes. " _Another_ Gold Star won't change you mind?"

"Don't push your luck, Smoak."

They shared a quiet laugh and Oliver watched them in amusement as he pushed the elevator button. It was always nice to see Tommy happy, calm, and laughing, and Felicity brang that out of him most of the time. He knew they just shared friendship, but even just seeing them together for the last five-days, there was always that flare of jealously that lurked in that dark place the island created inside of him.

The elevator arrived and Oliver waited for them to step inside, before he followed. Tommy pressed the familiar button and they were ascending.

"You're not going to blindfold me again, are you?" he looked at her sidelong with a smirk, fingering the scarf around his neck. Somehow, she'd managed to hug the car seat to her chest, effectively hugging the baby in an indirect sort of way.

"Kinky, bit no." She eyed the scarf around his neck with a wrinkled nose. "If anything, that thing needs a wash—not you putting it over your eyes so that you can get an infection."

Now Oliver really did feel jealous, especially with the sexual implication tied in, but the elevator doors opened and they arrived at their floor.

Tommy paused at the apartmentdoor, stopping the others from going further. He took several deep, fast breathes. Readying himself like he was going to walk into a gulag and not a little welcome home party.

"It's not a shotgun on the other side of that door, you know." Felicity mused.

"Some things haven't changed." Oliver noted, looking at him.

Tommy looked over his shoulder, an innocent look on his face. "I've been gone for five-days, hello Mr. Three-Years-Absent—what do you think your welcome home party's going to be?"

Oliver stuck his tongue out at the Omega. "An intimate dinner amongst family and friends. Didn't I say some things haven't changed?" And Tommy got that look in his eye—

"Okay, alright you two." Felicity's tone was clearly that of a parent intervening before the children could really get into. "Can someone please open the door—if not for the sake of ripping the proverbial band aid off, than because this precious little baby strapped into this hunk of safety-plastic is starting to get heavy. Right along with popular belief, I am not as strong as I appear."

Tommy snorted and looked to his other side at the other blond, a calculating look in his blue-eyes. "I will for... five Gold Stars. Each day I was stuck in the hospital."

Felicity gasp. "Extortionist!"

"You know it." Tommy looked at her haughtily. "And he's going to be no help to you, either." He flicked his thumb at the Alpha. "He's with me."

Felicity looked at Oliver. The Alpha stared back and shrugged his shoulders. "He's my baby's daddy," with such a straight face that Tommy had to choke back his laugh and the Beta had to pause a moment herself. She wasn't going to be the one to break the game.

"Oliver!" she proclaimed dramatically, "I thought we were friends, five days of friendship means nothing to you?"

"Give it up, babe. You have no friends here." Tommy leered.

Felicity glowered back. "You win this time, Mr. Flowers—" Oliver made a strangled sound in the back of his throat "—but you won't be so lucky next time."

"Oh, Ms. Goodbodem," he cooed. "You say that every time." He reached for the knob, but before he could grasp it, the door was yanked open, and standing in the doorway, was a glowering Abercrombie Beta.

"Will you stop with the weird sex-games already? We can hear everything in here, you know?"

"Roy, you ruined it!" Thea growled from inside the apartment.

"Please!" he rolled his eyes over his shoulder at the teen. "Like you wanted to listen to that any more than I did?"

"Just shut the door and let them come in!" she ordered him. "It's supposed to be a surprise."

"I feel like this is a cruel and unusual punishment." He muttered.

The threesome outside the door stared at him with complete and utter amusement at the abuse.

"Harper! I swear to God! What have I told you?"

Roy let out a heavy groan and ran a hand through his short spiky hair. "If I don't do this, she really will come over here and kick me in the balls. So I am shutting this door (in your faces) and backing away..." he slowly closed the door in a half-way contrite ambiance.

The three of them all shared looks and a round of quiet snickers, before Tommy opened the door as first intended, and they shuffled in from the hall.

"Not-really-a-surprise-anymore-but-we're-doing-this-because-it's-completely-neccessary-so—Surprise!" Thea whooped at their entry, her arms raised up, a homemade banner hanging over her head. Because while she was a rich teenager, she was still a teenager (and it was built in their blood to make their own banners or something).

Felicity set the car seat down carefully, shaking out her arms. She and Oliver both started to strip from their coats, but Tommy was left staring at the banner above Thea's grinning head:

# **_Welcome home, Dadd ~~y~~ ies_**! #

Tommy stared at the handmade banner and made a sound in the back of his throat as tears pricked the corner of his eyes. Emotion just swelled up in him and he swallowed down the emotional lump. He knew that he was a father now, but somehow, seeing it written down in tangible, bold letters—it made him want to cry. 'Daddies,' that was him and Oliver.

"Thanks, guys." His voice came out a little chocked, and if they noticed that was fine with the Omega, because he got a group hug out of it.

Tommy craved affection, physical contact—physical intimacy of varying proportions. It was sort of an Omega thing, but he was sure it was just a mostly-him thing. After his mother had been killed, it was true, the father that he had known died along with her, and he was left with the bastard he was today. After he'd come into his dynamic, Malcolm's reaction towards it, Tommy had been hit with a crash of reality. The only time Malcolm showed his 'affection' was through abuse and emotional manipulation. And then Tommy had met Oliver. The young Alpha was his Saving Grace—he didn't care how sappy or corny it sounded—it was the truth. Oliver was his best-friend in life, his blood-brother, his soul-brother. Their relationship had always been very physical from the get-go, even when there was nothing sexual about it like there was now. Tommy was attention starved and Oliver was more than happy to give it to him, maybe because he needed it himself too. It was of complete trust. The Omega could count those that he felt he had that kind of trust, connection, and affection for, on one hand. Oliver, Felicity, Thea, and Roy. Years before, he couldn't have said the same.

Rebecca woke up and started to cry, officially breaking up the epic group hug, but then he got to cuddle her so that more than made up for it. ~

Most of what had stressed him in the hospital were no longer issues, they'd been dealt with. Now all he had to do was focus on taking care of Rebecca.

Their days consisted mostly of feeding, burping, sleeping, diaper-changes, and bathing. It was fantastically monotonous and boring and predictable. He got to sleep and wasn't stuck in a bed all day unless he wanted it that way, no more hospital-food, taking his own showers. He wasn't being watched twenty-four-seven like at the hospital.

Thea had to go back to school with Christmas break over, Felicity was now running the IT Department at Queen Consolidated (it was at least a little step up to what she was truly worth), Oliver was trying to integrate himself back into society's life or "re-domesticating the wild-animal" as he put it when it was just the two of them.

Tommy's bed was a lonely occupation, not like he had time for doing anything else in it other than sleep. Oliver spent his nights at the Queen Mansion, and usually spent most of his days at the Smoak-Merlyn apartment, if he wasn't busy trying to get his life back on track, but he did visit everyday.

As Oliver had predicted, Moira had set up and welcome home dinner for him at the mansion, and as much as Tommy had wanted to go, he didn't want to take Rebecca from the 'nest' so soon just after they got home from the hospital. But Oliver swore to him that he could handle it, meeting Walter Steele, the Omega that Moira was courting. [Of course, Oliver was glad that Moira had found someone after Robert, and what he had said to her in the hospital still stood true, but now that he was out of the hospital, that his sole attention wasn't focused on Tommy and Rebecca and dealing the with the press—he was forced to realize just how exactly raw those feelings with Robert still were (would always be, probably), now that he'd been pushed back out into reality and not in the little bubble with Tommy. But he was working on it].

Tommy didn't even think that the Alpha had truly slept the five-days in the hospital. Oliver was still stuck in the mode of sleeping-with-one-eye-open, something that he had to adopt quickly on the island and something that stayed with him in his time in Hong Kong; now back in Starling, the old-new environment, it was ingrained in him, despite no obvious danger. It wasn't something that he could easily abandoned, not this early on at least.

And the none-existent sex... Oliver's whispers of _soon_ would sometimes catch the Omegas unawares and give him a shiver of anticipation of the future event. But he knew that it wasn't going to happen any time right now. It was still too early for them both. Oliver was too wired, Tommy too exhausted, and they were both too preoccupied. Besides, though Tommy did desire Oliver with every fibre of himself, though he craved every touch and to be touched, to have the Alpha's rough voice simply reverberate through him; he didn't quite have the sexual drive for it. His hormones were still off-kilter and he didn't think that they would be back to normal until he at least stopped breastfeeding Rebecca Meghan.

It was the pup's newborn pheromones, the fabled baby-scent, that dulled the Omega's natural sex-drive, and bid him focus on the care of his child. Not that he wouldn't have been just as attentive without it, it was just a natural, survival instinct phenomenon with all pups, no matter what dynamic they came into with puberty.

But Tommy had come to realize, now at the end of the third week, that all that cute, quiet, innocent sleeping was just her charging up for this, the infamous (every parents' dread), the third-week startling line for the colic epidemic.

It was mentioned in every baby book that he'd read throughout the pregnancy. And it never came up again until one day, she just started crying and didn't seem to be able to stop, whether she wanted to or not. It wasn't consistent, but it felt like it was damn near it. The only pauses came in short bouts usually when she was sleeping or feeding, other than that, all bets were usually off. Because, usually, it was only minutes after his nipple was out of her mouth that it would start up again. Rebecca was colic. The doctor had told him that most pups went through it in their babyhoods, and there was nothing that could really be done but to wait for the phase to pass, and just comfort Rebecca as much as he could through it.

It ate away at him every time she cried. It always felt like he was never doing enough. The first time he mentioned it to Felicity, she showed him sympathy and understanding because she tried to ease Rebecca too and help unburden Tommy. But the next time he mentioned it, and said he was a bad parent, she'd smacked him upside the head and the next thing he knew, there was a mini-intervention going on in the living room with a party of three (him, her, and Ollie) and they pretty much set him straight on the matter. And though he _did know_ that he was doing everything he could for the baby, it didn't stop the guilt (he could always see the same shinning through the pairs blue-eyes when it was their turn to comfort Rebecca.

The crib had been moved from the baby room to his since his first day's return. He was just too anxious ridden at the moment to have her sleeping in another room. When she was a bit older, he knew he would have to return it to her room and let her sleep on her own, but as a new parent, it was just too early for him.

The only time her baby room was used, was usually changing her diaper and dressing her on the changing table. Nothing else was out of place, it was like a museum display of a baby room.

But now, it was all that much more convenient. To have her just a few steps away, he could get to her immediately, especially during the night, like now.

Tommy continued to hush in her in gentle soothing tones, even if she couldn't understand him yet, she could take comfort from his voice. He gently rocked and rubbed her back, until finally, she'd settled down enough that she wasn't squirming in his arms like a mini Tasmanian devil. He took advantage and placed her on her back with her blankie at the center of his bed.

In record time, he had a barrier of pillows made on the opposite side of the bed, and quick action had the mobile pulled from the wall, and the plastic suction cup at the end of the handle stuck to his headboard, to dangle above their heads.

He laid on his side, opposite the pillows with Rebecca in-between. He curled around the babe, who'd started up again. He gently rubbed her round little tummy, gently rocking her, as he turned on the mobile. He nuzzled the crown of her head before he placed a kiss there, and begin to gently hum along with the music to the mobile.

It was half-an-hour later that Rebecca's crying had died down to sniffles, hiccups, and grunts. He didn't close his eyes until he knew she was asleep.

It was nights like these that his bed wasn't such a lonely place.

**aRRoW**

It was coming upon three-months later, and it was quiet. It was almost like Heaven opening up and God answering his prayer. Over the last few days, the quiet had been lasting longer, but Rebecca hadn't cried all afternoon (except for when Tommy had dropped a cup in the kitchen and the noise had scared her, but she had been easily resettled; that was the first sign). Tommy was exhausted, more so than when he was in the hospital, post-birth. The near three-month-long of interrupted sleep, lack of sleep, the stress, fear; the fact that Rebecca had never been from his sight but for the bathroom, (record-breaking) showers, and whatever hours of sleep he'd stolen; or even when it was Oliver or Felicity or Thea comforting the babe, he still couldn't bear to be away with her plaintive cries of aching, even if he hadn't been the one holding her or soothing her. It always tore at his heart.

But that cry this morning definitely had a different tone to it. She was quiet with him all afternoon, and when Felicity came home from work that night and offered to watch Rebecca so he could go do something by himself, for himself, he felt a little guilty at low groan that answered the Beta.

"Uh-huh," she chuckled. "Get out of here." She waved him away with a flick of her hand, before it was back at Rebecca's back.

But by ‘getting out of there‘, he only went as far as the bathroom. Though it was true he hadn't even been outside since he came back from the hospital, he wasn't tempted right now to do it. He didn't want to be far from Rebecca, and it was almost April and still nippy and cold outside.

He filled the tub with hot water, and even put in a light daub of Felicity scented bubbles. He stripped and stepped into the water, lowering himself into the warmth and bubbles with a low moan. He laid back against the cold porcelain that quickly warmed with his skin, letting out a long breath and closed his eyes.

**o** —o

"Mm," Tommy sighed at the pleasant sensation of rough calluses rubbing through his chest hair. He sunk a little lower into the warm, bubbly water.

He was in an exhausted-doze-space, where his stray fantasies snuck into his exhausted mind, and it was a little difficult to discern dream from reality. It'd been a while since he'd had a waking-dream, but he didn't try and fight it, it felt too nice.

His head rolled on a limp neck, following the hand that carded through his hair. It had been getting a little long around the ears, and his bangs had really started to flop into his eyes lately, but he really loved the feel of Oliver's fingers in his hair.

The hand on his chest wasn't stationary. It slowly worked its way downward, rubbing. Fingers brushed the edge of his nipples, making him gasp lightly and arch a little, but no further attention was paid to them. They had been sensitive when he got pregnant, but it was a whole different thing now that Rebecca was born and he was breastfeeding. Of course, as a man, even an Omega, though he could breastfeed, his pecks were **not** boobs. And yes, while they were swollen and engorged with milk, they could still just barely be consisted an A-cup. He didn't wear a bra. He was not a woman. Despite the fact that he could get pregnant, that he could breastfeed— **he was not a woman!** no matter what those Alphas ‘informed’ him what his 'kind' were like.

The hand delved below the bubbles and waterline, the touch feather-light. It was an edge of ticklish and intimate as it skimmed down his ribs. Blunted nails lightly scarped in the opposite way of the 'natural grain' of his happy trail, giving his an almost prickly feeling. His breath stuttered a little. He wanted to arch into the touch, he wanted to thrust—

Fingertips brushed against the recent and still sensitive scar the length of his pelvis and the shock of the unexpected touch had him jolting. He flailed a little, splashing water. His eyes snapped open, but his vision was blurry and being unable to focus on anything didn't really help. It was almost like a bucket of cold water thrown into his face when he was least expecting it.

"Hey, hey. Tommy. It's Oliver. You're okay, you're okay!"

Oliver managed to clasp Tommy's grasping hand, holding firm. It seemed to ground the startled Omega, the calluses from his dream were a reality.

"Ollie, you're here."

Oliver nodded. "I came by and Felicity said that you were in here. I called and when you didn't answer, I came in. When I saw you, I couldn't help myself." He admitted. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, no." He cleared his throat and shook the remaining cobwebs from his brain. "I was half-in and half-out of it, and when you touched my scar, it just startled me."

"Sorry." Oliver petted the wet tips at the nape of his neck. "Does it hurt?"

"Not in the sense that you're referring," he relaxed back against the tub, squeezing the Alpha's hand still in his. "Sometimes it feels tight, or I kind of get an ache inside. But it pretty sensitive to touch, sometimes I have to watch what I wear 'cause it rubs against it. But it's not like I've been touching it either, so its still rather hyper-aware of touch."

Oliver knew what he meant. Even years later, some of his first scars were still felt. But the burn-scars were the worst. "Tommy..." he had that self-blame, guilty tone going on.

Tommy gave him a small smile. "Trust me, this is definitely better than if Rebecca had come out the natural way. Can you even imagine?" he shuddered at the thought. It was common practice nowadays for male Omegas to get a C-Section, as opposed to a natural birth; just like mothers who would requested a C-Section even when it wasn't medically necessary. The perk of the Modern Era, why not take advantage? "Really, I was not having it, just ask Felicity. My ass is made for more pleasurable things than that," he winked suggestively at the now smirking Alpha, "if you catch my drift."

He gave a small chuckle. "It couldn't get any clearer if you spelled it out."

Tommy leaned forward towards him, and laid an arm across the edge of the tub, his chin on his arm as he watched the Alpha crouched next to the tub. "So," he mused. "Why are you still you there, dressed and dry? You should totally be in here with me."

Though Oliver seemed to like the thought, he eyed the tub dubiously.

"You'll fit, come on." He playful flicked him with water from his hand out of view. Oliver raised a brow at him: _Really?_ it said. Tommy smirked. "The only way to punish me is to strip naked and get in here with me."

"How so?" Oliver wondered, torturously.

"Come on," Tommy whispered. "Do a guy a favour." He grasped a handful of Oliver's tee near the collar with wet fingers and pulled the Alpha the short distance that remained between them, bringing their lips together. Oliver didn't resist, in fact, as soon as the Omega's lips touched his it was like a switch was flicked and he hungrily kissed the dark-haired man back.

Tommy opened up to his with a gasp of breath, and Oliver's tongue darted into his mouth immediately, licking him. The Omega's grasp on his shirt tightened as he pulled, almost like he wanted to tug the Alpha straight into his mouth. Oliver gripped the edge of the tub, the other shoved into Tommy's hair at the back of his head, above his nape, tugging the hair and directing the Omega's head at a better angle to somehow deepen the kiss (any deeper and Tommy was sure Oliver would be licking his tonsils).

Water splashed at the Alpha's elbow, he could feel the water soak into the edge of his short sleeve and other parts of the material. He gave a little growl as he was finally forced to break the kiss, nibbling at Tommy's swollen bottom lip as he pulled slightly away. Their foreheads pressed together, panting into each others mouths as they caught their breaths.

Tommy smiled as their eyes met, and Oliver finally registered the true position that he was in. The hard edge of the tub was in his stomach, the hand that wasn't in Tommy's hair, was gripping the edge at the head of the tub. He was hanging halfway over the tub with Tommy nearly fully submerged on his side, but for the hand that still gripped his shirt, his left shoulder and head, his other arm supporting him from under the water.

"I can get you in here with or without clothes, Ollie," Tommy murmured against his lips. "Player’s choice." He nipped at his bottom lip. Oliver gave his hair a tug in response and the Omega gasped a little, arousal and desire clear in his eyes.

Oliver pushed away from the tub, yanking his wet tee over his head and dropping it on the floor and reached for his jeans. Tommy sat up in the water and watching as Oliver stripped the rest of the way, he pulled the plug at the drain, draining some of the cooling water away, and turning on the tap, filling the new space with hot water.

He gazed at the naked Alpha appreciatively. He hadn't seen Oliver naked since Hong Kong, and because of the circumstance and situation, he didn't have the time or the mind to truly appreciate it.

"You're beautiful," he whispered. He reached out with dripping fingers, and traced them lightly down the man's ribs.

"Tommy..." Oliver started to shake his head.

Tommy grabbed his hand. "Stop that, Oliver. You are. Always." He shifted onto his knees and took the Alpha's other hand, pulling him closer. Oliver came almost reluctantly, not meeting his eyes (almost just like back in Hong Kong). "How many times could I have lost you, I'll never know." He uttered, looking up at the man. With Fear. Love. "But these marks, these scars?" his fingertips ghosted over the almost check-shaped scar on his abdomen, "These show how many times you've defied death to come back here—to come back to me."

Oliver finally met his gaze. "You're the beautiful one, Tommy."

Tommy snorted. "Have you seen me lately? I'm fucking disgusting," he flashed a grin at the blond, but there was insecurity in the shadows of his eyes. "Have you seen my hair? I don't think it's ever heard of a brush. I can't remember the last time I shaved; I practically have a beard. I have let myself go; I'm fat now. None of my clothes fit. I'm stuck in fucking pregnancy clothes and a fucking muumuu. A muumuu, Oliver! I can't remember the last time I wore jeans. I'm like a fucking beached-whale in this tub!"

"You could be as fat as the Elephant Man and you'd still be beautiful." Oliver insisted.

Tommy made a face. "Thanks, I feel much better now." He retorted sarcastically, and started to pull away before Oliver tightened his return hold, stopping him.

"That's not—" he shook his head in frustration. "No matter how many people I saved or might save, what you did..." he shook his head as if he didn't have the words, "You carried and protected our child for nine-months. You brought her into the world, healthy. That was you. Fuck, I've never seen you look more beautiful than you do right now." Tommy snorted at that. "I'm serious, Tommy. Being a father suits you. I've never seen you so happy in your life. When you're with Rebecca, the two of you... I wonder what I did to deserve such wonderful, beautiful things. But, God, Tommy," he caressed his cheek, almost roughly in his passion, "It makes me want to put a million pups inside you."

"I think a million is a little excessive," he deadpanned. "But I'm not against having a few more kids—especially now that you're actually here."

"I'm not going _anywhere_ ," he said vehemently.

"Then get the fuck in here, before I come out there." Tommy growled. "You can't say shit like that to a guy and leave him hanging, not when I've seen the goods (literally hanging right in my face right now) and like what I see."

It was nice that they had a bath the size that could actually fit two men (not small by any means); at Felicity’s old apartment, the Beta just managed to be able to give it ago, never mind the pregnant Omega. Of course, the baths at the Queen Mansion could be considered public swimming pools of their own accord.

It was just the right kind of crowded. It was cuddle-crowded.

"Mm." Tommy rested his back against Oliver's strong chest, one of his muscled arms lay across his haired chest, the other was propped up on the edge of the tub and playing with his hair.

"This is the first time that it's just been the two of us since I got back," Oliver realized quietly.

"Well, things have been pretty hectic." Tommy agreed, his hand rubbing up and down Oliver's thigh under the water, occasionally pausing to gently pull a hair or two before continuing on, his eyes closed. "I've had Rebecca in my sights near constantly for the last three-month. And you've been splitting your time between here, Queen Mansion, and reacquainting yourself with civilisation. It's not much of a surprise."

"Maybe," he murmured. "But it sure is a loss."

"Then don't waste the moment to make up for it," he challenged.

"Oh, I won't." The blond hummed.

And Tommy gasped a moment later as Oliver's hand brushed over his chest, before he gently caressed his swollen peck, drawing the pad of his thumb over the sensitive nipple.

"Ah," a second swipe made him arch lightly at another turn as Oliver nibbled his ear. But Tommy quickly swatted his hand away.

Oliver made a sound of protest. "What?"

"If you keep doing that, I'm going to start squirting breast milk." Tommy told him with mirth.

"Huh." He uttered to himself thoughtfully. "Wouldn't want to waste that." But he conceded Tommy's advice and left his nipples alone.

His hand stroked down his stomach, careful to avoid the C-Section scar. His hand stilled at the Omega's hip, his finger petting the sensitive crease of his thigh at his groin. Oliver nuzzled the side of his head and Tommy cocked his head. Oliver's lips found the Bonding Gland on the side of him neck, swiping it with his tongue, before he started to kiss and suck it. Tommy shivered lightly, a little groan in the back of his throat as Oliver worked to mark him, but not bite him.

A sharp inhale of breath signalled Oliver's rough calloused hand wrapping around his cock, slowly pumping the soft flesh. His hand clenched Oliver's thigh as he pushed back against the Alpha, even as his thrusted his hips into Oliver's hand.

Oliver drew his teeth along the newly marked flesh, nipping his delicate flesh before he rose his head. "Like that?" he nibbled Tommy's earlobe.

"Fuck," he cursed quietly. Even as he could feel the arousal in the pit of his stomach, a warm flutter, he knew that he wasn't going to get any harder than half. Fuck, and he finally had Oliver alone and naked. But he wasn't going to let the post-pregnancy hormones screw him over.

"Tommy?" Oliver asked when the Omega grasped his wrist, stopping his strokes.

"I have a better idea," Tommy told him, somehow twisting around in the tub between the Alpha's legs, with minimal water-splashing. He reached into the water and dissipating bubbles, his fingers brushing up Oliver's thigh before he grasped the generous half-hard cock. Hopefully, the blond hadn't noticed his own inability to get it fully up.

Oliver's cock quickly hardened in his hand as he stroked it. It was hot and thick in his palm, the blood that filled it, ran hotter than the water that surrounded it. It was an interesting feeling.

"God, Ollie," Tommy whispered, leaning forward and kissing his scar-covered chest. "I almost forgot how big you are."

Oliver only grunted in response. Tommy's other hand reached for the man's ball's. Oliver tried to open his legs wider, but the walls of the tub prevented him from getting far. Tommy chuckled, his tongue briefly swirling around the blond’s nipple, he tugged at it succinctly before he pulled back and looked at the Alpha.

"Ngh."

"I want to taste you, Ollie." Tommy whispered to him, almost begged and Oliver groaned from just that. "I want you on my tongue." He squeezed his cock.

"Fuck, Tommy."

Tommy smirked. "I don't have gills, buddy." He reminded.

A minute later, after some splashing and shifting, Oliver found himself propped up on the slopping head of the tub, with Tommy still in the water, between his legs. His hard cock bobbed between them like a tantalizing bobber fishing for bait. Tendrils of water poured off the sleek, muscled thighs. Tommy all-but surged forward, the tip of his tongue out and scooping up the drop of pre-cum that had instantly beaded at the Alpha's slit. Alpha sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth, his hands clenching the edge of the tub.

Tommy gave him a grin and grasped the man's cock just above the spongy base where his Knot inflated during Alpha's Rut or balls-deep in a Omega in Heat, and held the stiff limb steady as he enveloped the weeping head with his lips. Oliver gasped, his hips wanting to thrust, but he controlled the instinct.

Tommy's delved the cock further into his mouth, pumping his head. Oliver emitted a little growl of arousal at the sensation and the sight of Tommy on his cock. His hand pumped at the base, giving in with a cork-screw twist.

His first tastes were faintly of the bubbles from the bathwater, but were quickly overtaken by the Alpha's natural taste. To Tommy, Oliver's scent was honey and black pepper, but that was not what he tasted like. The scent lingered on the background of the taste that could only ever and always be Oliver. He moaned at the taste, causing Oliver to groan at the sensation.

Tommy released his cock long enough to dip him head and take a lonely ball into his mouth, rolling it with his tongue. He wanted to taste every secret little part that had been hidden from him his entire life. Oliver groaned. The Omega continued to stroke his cock with his hand, the tip bumping into his ear. He did the same to the other ball, before releasing them to briefly catch his breath. But he wasn't idle. He groaned lightly, nuzzling the hanging sack, burring his nose in the slightly darker blond pubes and Scenting. Lovingly drawing in the sweet, musky scent of Oliver as he continued to pump his cock.

Oliver was gasping lightly. He needed something real to hold onto, to ground him. He carded one hand into the thick dark locks of the Omega, his arm moving with the pumping of the man's head over his cock. His head falling briefly back, he moaned quietly at the wonder of Tommy Merlyn’s tongue.

Tommy licked the crease between sac and back of the cock, making Oliver bite his lips at the first-time sensation, before he sucked, licked, and slurped his way along with thick vein on the underside of his erect penis to the purple-ish leaking head. Tommy sucked on the tip, making Ollie gasp and clench, before he sunk down further.

Oliver had a lot of time to fantasize over the last few years: when falling into a true sleep in the island could mean his death, be it by a wild animal or one of Fryers' men coming upon him, when the game was stuck at _always have at least one eye open_ ; when he wasn't laying awake a night, plagued by the blood on his hands and the darkness smudging his soul; doing shady work for a secret government even more shady than the C.I.A.; or collapsed into darkness from shear exhaustion.

But they were there, washing through the cracks... of what he'd say to the Omega if he finally made it back home, the things that he'd do different, the mistakes that he wouldn't make again. He loved Laurel, he really did, just as he had loved Sara, but he did that too, but they were not the loves of his life. The love of his life was the man that never gave up on him, even when everyone in the world did the same.

And when Tommy managed to track him down (with the help of a blond Beta's magic fingers), it gave him a rich base on those fantasies, it gave him a perspective of what his future could hold, and of what exactly he was going to get his hands on. Oliver just never expected it to be this. To come home to Tommy, their daughter—and an incredible blowjob. All he could have hoped to do was try and fulfil Robert's last wish. But this homecoming exceeded all else.

The coil of orgasm was building so tightly inside of him, that the Alpha felt like to snap. He'd never experienced a blowjob like Tommy was giving him now. It was like the Omega wanted to pump him for everything he had, and the Alpha would just as soon as give it to him—but he wanted to hold on for just a little bit longer. This was the most self-control he'd had in his entire life, and Tommy was absolutely testing him with those blue-eyes looking up at him through dark lashes, his cock sliding between those beautiful lips...

Tommy's other hand gripped the top of his knee, but it didn't stay there for long. His traced the tight muscles on the inside of his thigh and down to his balls. He caressed and massaged them, but a finger strayed purposefully and stroked that smooth blank of flesh that lay between balls and asshole.

Oliver tightened his hold in his hair nearly painfully, as he cried out Tommy's name, his orgasm breaking free from the cage that he'd forced it into. His hips jutted forward without control, his eyes almost rolled back—but Tommy didn't jerk away. He leaned into the motion, taking Oliver's head at the back of his throat as the Alpha finally came.

He said he wanted to taste Oliver, and he'd meant it. So he drank. His eyes watered as he fought the urge of pull away, gasp for breath, to cough. But he pushed through it. Oliver washed over his palate, coating his taste buds. Salty and warmth washed down the back of his throat, flooding his chest almost like a hot glass of cocoa.

Oliver shuddered at the end of his release, sitting back against the edge. Tommy's shoulders heaved as he gasped for breath, licking and wiping his mouth, as he swallowed continuously against his excessively watering mouth—his mouth flooded with the taste of Oliver every time.

Oliver was shaky on the edge of the tub, and Tommy felt as satisfied as if he'd come himself. The feel of Oliver orgasming across his tongue, the feeling of the Alpha's bodily release into his own... Tommy felt the phantom orgasm in himself.

Tommy pushed himself back so he was back amongst the taps on the other side of the tub, and Oliver slid back into the water himself with a splash, shaky limbed after his orgasm. They stared across at each other as they came down, their legs tangled between them.

"How you doing over there, buddy?" Tommy asked. He took a handful of lukewarm bath water and splashed it on the lower-half of his face, wiping the water from his mouth and chin with his hand, flicking it away.

"I'm sure you can _taste_ exactly how I'm doing over here."

"Mm-hm." Tommy smirked. He rose his leg and ran his foot along Oliver's muscled thigh. Oliver watched him with squinty eyes as the Omega cocked his head lightly. His foot rose from the water, dripping.

"And what exactly do you plan on doing with that?" Oliver questioned.

Tommy bite his lip. "Give it a second." And much to the Alpha's surprise, flicked his nipple with his big toe.

Oliver grabbed the man's ankle with a little growl. "That... was a twisted case of intriguing and disturbing, Merlyn."

Tommy snickered. "I was feeling playful." Oliver sighed and lowered the man's foot into his lap under the water, and started to rub said foot. "Oh," Tommy uttered a groan. "That's nice."

"It's because you didn't come, did you?" Oliver watched him carefully.

"Oh, you noticed that, huh?" Tommy gave him a guilty look, even as he somehow slumped further in the tub with Oliver's ministrations. "It nothing to do with how I feel about you, trust me. It's the whole post-pregnancy mother-instinct hormone-thing. I've read about it. The carrier of the child (i.e. myself) with go all protective-survival on their child, from six-months up to a year. There's no interest in reproducing (i.e. no Heat), so it's at least six-months in general before there's sexual completion for said party."

"Wow, Tommy. That..."

"Sucks?" Tommy replied, surprisingly G-Rated in his supply. He shrugged. "Sure. But I don't really mind. I mean, I was frustrated a bit ago about it—but then I got to suck you're balls." He grinned. "That was nice. I've been wanting to do that for a while now, trust me." He snickered to himself; it was totally on his secret _Oliver + Sex Bucket List._ But now, Oliver was the one giving him guilty flashes. Tommy sighed and smiled at him softly, his voice just the same, "I love you, Oliver, and I love our daughter. I wouldn't change that just so I could come."

Tommy blinked in surprise as a moment later, Oliver surged forward lethally, hand at the nape of his neck, pulling him forward and crushing their lips together. Water sloshed and splashed; by now, he was sure there was more flooding the floor than there was actually in the tub.

Their pelvises fitted together, and Tommy could feel electricity through his scar as Oliver warmth covered him. He could already feel the Alpha starting to get hard again.

Oliver devoured his mouth like his tongue was a penis, and Tommy's mouth was a puckered hole. But _that_ would have to come later. They rutted against each other, desperate, grasping. Oliver was fully erect, Tommy still only half. But Tommy could feel it, like a caress and curl of aroused fingers inside of him. Stroking his insides to a pleasant buzz, curling tighter. He gasped and panted and moaned into the blond’s mouth.

It was fast. Fuck. Coming over him like a sweeping tidal wave.

He cried out, loudly, surprised, wracked with climax; his body tensed like a shock of lightening struck through him (in a somehow pleasurable way). His fingers clawed into Oliver's back, arching into the Alpha. Oliver gave his own cry, spilling warmly and wetly against the Omega and into the water, holding the other man close.

Tommy finally slumped back down into the tub, panting, Oliver close at hand in the same state. It took a moment for Tommy to realize exactly what had just occurred—He'd reached orgasm without ejaculation. He didn't even think that was possible. Maybe for a woman, but definitely not for a man. But than again, he was 'uterus-clad.'

Oliver leaned up on his arms and looked at the Omega in utter amazement. "Did you... just _orgasm?_ "

"Y-yeah. I think." Tommy stammered. "I mean, is-is that a thing?"

He chuckled. "Isn't that, like, Tantrism?"

"No fucking idea." Tommy admitted. "You're the Sex God. But it felt incredible, whatever it was."

"I'll bet." Oliver kissed him.

Tommy chucked him under his scruffy chin in amusement. "I guess your hotness was too hard to resist."

Oliver grinned sappily. "I try my best."

Tommy smiled and raised his dripping hands, dancing his fingers across the Alpha's beaming face. "Can we get out now? I'm more prune-y than human right now."

Oliver stole a last peck before he pulled away from the Omega and stood up in a single motion, bath water cascading down his lethal and fit form as he rose from the water like a very sexy Poseidon. He reached down for Tommy, grasping the man's hands and easily pulled the Omega to his feet. They stepped from the tub onto the mat and may have dried each other off before they tended to other things, like the mini sea on the bathroom floor.

Tommy threw a towel onto the wet floor and stepped on it, shuffling around the floor and mopping up the escaped water—naked. Draining and rinsing the tub, Oliver watched him over his shoulder, snickering.

Tommy smirked at him. "Thought you might like that." And clapped the Alpha soundly on the ass as he passed.

Oliver straightened. "That last bit wasn't too bad either."

He just gave the Alpha a coy smile and wink. Oliver picked up his discarded clothes from the floor (mostly dry at least) and redressed. Tommy simply left his clothes on the floor and took up a clean towel, wrapping it around his waist.

They found Felicity in the living room, lounging on the couch with the television on, volume low. She gave them a knowing and amused look; Tommy with a towel wrapped around his waist and Oliver with a wet splotched shirt.

Tommy looked back at her defiantly. "Like you wouldn't."

She looked at Oliver, who couldn't quite meet her piercing blue-gaze, suddenly prude of all things. She smirked. "Maybe in an alternate universe."

"Right." Tommy snorted. "You and Oliver get together, I'm with Laurel—and for shits and giggles Thea and Roy have a secret thing going."

"What?" Oliver growled. That seemed to have snapped him out of it. "I don't think so!"

" _That's_ what you're protesting?" Tommy looked at him, his arms crossed over his chest, a dark brow raised. "Thea and Roy?"

"She's just a kid, Tommy!" Oliver protested. "She shouldn't be dating. She should focus on school, not boys! Older boys."

"Oh. Hello, dad." Felicity waved at him. Oliver blinked at her and Tommy tried to hide his smile.

"She seventeen," Tommy reminded him, squeezing his shoulder. "Remember what we were like at seventeen?" Oliver shuddered and looked at him in horror. "Luckily, Speedy's nothing like us. You don't have to worry about her."

"She's my little sister," Oliver said. "And a Queen. There's absolutely everything to worry about."

"Well, now you have a daughter who's half-Queen half-Merlyn," Felicity mused helpfully, "that'll keep you worried enough for the next hundred-years."

"Felicity!" Tommy protested as she smiled at him. But then he stopped, because realisation just hit, "Where exactly _is_ our daughter?" Oliver visibly tensed as he looked at her, too.

"Calm down." She told them. "She's in her crib. Nothing as exciting happened out here as it did in the bathroom—which I hope I'm not going to find any _surprises_ next I go in there. I swear, Merlyn—I better not find any man-juice or I—"

"Nope." Tommy smirked devilishly and licked the corner of his mouth in a very lasciviously pointed and suggestive manner.

"No-oo!" she cried out in horror. "My innocence—gone."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," Tommy chuckled and rolled his eyes at the blond. "Like you haven't swallowed a little come in your time." Both blonds made chocking sounds. "Really?" he raised a dark incredulous brow at them. He shook his head sadly. "Are you sure _this_ isn't the alternate universe where everyone's a prude and I'm the sex-deviant?" He sighed. "I'm going to check on Rebecca and put some clothes on, before the two of you have unsanctioned heart attacks." Tommy parted with indignant flourish, turning on a naked heel and sashaying back down the hall to his bedroom, disappearing inside and leaving the two blonds alone.

"How are you, Oliver?" Felicity asked him sincerely after looking at him in profile.

Oliver turned his gaze from following the Omega's exit, to the Beta on the couch, his blond brow raised minuscule-y. Though they'd known each other for three-months, they'd never really been alone. And if they had, it's only ever been long enough for them to exchange basic pleasantries, otherwise the Beta simply gave the Alpha direction to the Omega. Else, Tommy/Rebecca was a social buffer between them. The Beta's inquiry had been genuine, and being one of the few people that knew most of the truth of what had happened to him the past near four-years, his answer didn't have to be a half-cocked lie.

"I've been... Good." Oliver told her. He didn't plan on elaborating further as she nodded amiably, but after another glance down the hall he inhaled in decision and after a minimal moment of initial hesitation, he moved and sat down beside her on the couch. She looked a little surprised herself at the action, but covered it quickly with a small welcoming smile.

He scrubbed a hand over his mouth and scruff. "It's... complicated, you know?" he said quietly after a moment. "I mean, the last time I was in Starling City I was a completely different, well, douche bag, bastard—well, you know, I'm sure. Even if you didn't know me back then, I know you've read all about me in the tabloids."

She nodded. "We can just use jerk." She suggested helpfully.

He gave a short chuckle and nodded. "Yeah, jerk is a very nice, G-Rated, family friendly, and undeserved alternative. But, yeah, jerk. I was too stupid, selfish and uncaring about what I did or who I hurt in the process. And the yacht to China, that had been the ultimate materialization of all of that, betraying Laurel like that, getting Sara killed..." He ran a palm over his short hair. "Being on that island, it made me realise the kind of man that I was really was."

"That would make anyone look back on their life and only see mistakes that couldn't be corrected, Oliver." Felicity reasoned quietly.

"That—" he shook his head in light frustration. "Lian Yu swallowed the old Oliver Queen. It tore him apart, ripped him to shreds and butchered him—for all to see for a while and take advantage. And then if churned and spit some Frankenstein monster out that was broken and hopeless at the hands of nature, man... and _her_." _Amanda Waller_. He told her name to no one, not Tommy and definitely not Felicity (who could hack the world to try and find her. It was the same reason that he was careful not to mention [if he ever actually brought it up or talked about it] A.R.G.U.S. If she tried to go and dig up dirt on them for whatever reason [curiosity etc.] it would bring buildings down upon all of their heads). "The only reason any of what you see now is here, is because Tommy came looking when he had absolutely no reason to."

_Lian Yu_. That was the name of the island that Oliver had been stranded on, she realized. She didn't think he even meant to say it, it just slipped. She was sure that Tommy didn't even know the name of the island. But she didn't mention it to Oliver, or bring it up even as curious as she was, as she always was about things (that's a little bit of where the hacking had come from). There was probably nothing but bad memories about that place.

"He loves you, _that's_ his reason." Felicity said instead. "First time I met him, I saw that. Thought he was a little crazy, too, believe me, but I saw that love. And I've seen it every day since."

A small smile ghosted over Oliver's lips and hovered there, completely transforming his previous grim expression. "He's special, you know?"

She nodded. "But he'd deny it profusely if you ever said it to his face."

"Yeah." They shared a short, light chuckle. "I just..." he trailed off, palming his forehead with the heel of his hand. "What if..."

She looked at him knowingly. "It's not that hard to believe that you'd want your life to go back to how it was before the yacht, Oliver. Frankly, I'd be concerned if you didn't."

"Yeah, but _that's_ the thing, isn't it? _Here, now_ , I don't. Yes, I regret all the pain that I put people through with my death, with Sara, my dad... but if I never got onto that yacht with Sara, would I have what I do right now? Would I be with Tommy right now? Would I have a daughter? Would Tommy ever have gotten out from under Malcolm and met you and Roy and Diggle?" he looked at her so completely conflicted and she was floored herself at what he was throwing at her, definitely not what she had expected. "I'd still be fooling myself with Laurel, ruining both our lives. You'd be at Queen Consolidated, down in IT; so close, yet so far away. And Tommy... he'd never be able to get away from Malcolm. The bastard would end up killing him, I know he would!" he stopped and turned his face away from the woman for a moment, trying to rein the outburst in.

He exhaled roughly before turning back to the Beta, his expression more mastered. "But I feel like a monster. Because if I had a choice, to go back, I... I don't think I would. Not if it meant losing all of this."

Felicity swallowed and slowly reached out, putting her hand on his strong shoulder. "That doesn't make you a monster, it makes you human. I know how terrible off I'd be if I never got to meet Tommy, for him to be my best-friend. If I never got to meet Thea or Roy... or you, Oliver." She paused and slowly withdrew her hand back into her own lap. "I know it's not as near complicated as what you're going through, what you went through over the last few years. But there is no magic thing that can let you go back and change or undue things in the past to create a new future. This, now, is your life. And one, frankly, I think, that you were meant to have. No alternate universe about it." She looked at him earnestly through her glasses. "You _do_ deserve to be happy, Oliver, despite what might of happened in the past. To Sara, your friends from the island, or that family from Hong Kong. That does not condemn you to a life of loneliness, sadness, and guilt. You are alive. You have people who care about you and love you. Don't throw that away because you think you deserve to have none of it."

They sat in silence after that. Felicity's nail picking at the material at the edge of the arm rest on the couch. Oliver stared blindly at the television, the screen flickering at the rerun, the low sound falling on muted ears as he processed what the Beta had told him in firm belief. Tommy seemed to be taking an inordinate amount of time putting clothes on, but the Alpha absolutely knew he was already distracted with Rebecca, even if the baby was just sleeping, he knew anyone could just get caught up in watching the little pup sleep. Who knew baby were more addictive than drugs?

He sighed finally and nodded to himself before Oliver cleared his throat awkwardly into the silence and when she looked at him, she could swear his cheeks were a little pink.

He licked his lips. "Sorry about the—" he made a half-aborted gesture to the hall, or more down it, at the end, where the bathroom lay.

Felicity was more than relieved for the subject change, even if it was about Tommy and Oliver having sex in the bathroom. Not exactly her most favourite subject, but definitely lighter than the previous.

The corner of her mouth twitched and she blurted: "Don't worry about it. Isn't the saying: _if you didn't wake the baby, you're golden?"_

Oliver stared at her. She went a little hot in the face as she realized what she said.

"I'm sorry. That came out a little cavalier. I meant—I mean—you probably didn't have a lot of chances to have sex on the island... full of people trying to kill you and all or Hong Kong with the—with the, you know, evil-lady-cracking-the-whip-at-you-to-kill—or, erm—" she cut herself off, looking at the Alpha very sorry and very horrified, just making things worse for herself. But she couldn't seem to _stop it!_ "I am really sorry—that... you're a very good-looking man, and Tommy... and I might as well be Amish or well, no ~" she was just muttering to herself right now, "The Amish actually _have_ sex and I—"

"You really don't have a filter, do you?" Oliver finally managed to stop her before she said something _really_ bad.

"Hng." She gave a small gasp of relief. "I do... just my processor takes a minute to catch up."

"I'd say." He mused dryly, "Bet those rambles get you much love from the bosses."

"Oh. Walter—Mr. Steele—is very British." She said. "I mean, it's very calming. You know?" The only way that the Beta could look anymore horrified with herself was if she put her hands on either of her cheeks and opened her mouth just a little wider.

It could only be a kindness to put her out of her misery.

"Oh!" Oliver laughed. "Now I completely understand what Tommy's always saying. Just, when you get going you're just like an avalanche, huh? Taking out everything in your path. But somehow, it's hard to take offence. It's almost scary, Felicity.

"Yeah." She sighed, but there was a small smile at the corner of her lips. "But the really scary part, I think, is that this is the rambles getting _better_."

Oliver gave a low whistle. "I'd hate to hear the before."

"So did a bunch of other people," she snorted. "It took a minute to 'find the right job for me,' they always said." They shared lightly amused looks.

"And out of all those places, you somehow ended up working at Queen Consolidated."

"Yup,"

Tommy reappeared, dressed in pyjamas and still looking sexy. He gave his hands a single, soft clap and smiled at them sitting on the couch together. "My two favourite blonds," he winked at Felicity. "Who's hungry?" he asked. "Late dinner, anyone?"

Oliver and Felicity looked at each other briefly before they turned back to him. "What do you have in mind?" they said at the same time.

Tommy rocked back on his fuzzy-socked heels in glee. He definitely loved it when two of his four favourite blonds were getting along. He could see nothing by happy times if these two were talking unison.

[tbc]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, okay... just be straight with me on this chapter. Definitely not sure about it. What did you think of the Felicity-Oliver connect? 
> 
> I honestly was just going to have Oliver return home/Tommy have the baby/maybe some Hood action/then a really nice smut scene between them, but apparently my intentions and fingers have alternate opinions because I came up with more fluff/angst/smut for them that's just going to have to come out or it'll make me irritable. So this story doesn't seem to be quite at its end yet—here's to happy future readying!
> 
> P.S: So, here are some deleted bits for this chapter. Whatever, I'm posting them here; it's the only way they'll see the light of day:  
> */  
> \---- but now Tommy realized that all that cute, quiet sleeping was just her charging up for this, the declassified, every parents' dread, the third-week starting-line for the colic epidemic.
> 
> He'd read it in all the baby books that he'd bought, and it just never registered after that until she would just start crying, the only pauses were usually short bouts of sleep and feeding. But then, right after, as soon as the nipple was out of her mouth, it was the crying again. She was colic. That what the doctor said, and there was nothing to do for it but make Rebecca Meghan as comfortable as he could and it would eventually pass.   
> o—o
> 
> Her crib had been moved into Tommy room when they first got back to the hospital. But it had long since been there, on the third week, out of pure convenience.   
> o—o
> 
> He felt a little guilty at how quick he groaned in relief at the offer.  
> o—o
> 
> \---so a couple weeks ago, Felicity had pushed him into a chair in one of Rebecca's quiet-moments and gave him a trim.  
> o—o
> 
> "Hey," he said suddenly, perking up. "Why are you still you there, dressed and dry? You should totally be in here with me."  
> o—o
> 
> While Oliver stripped, Tommy briefly pulled the plug to drain some of the warm water, before he turned on the hot tap, filling the recent space with hot water.   
> :)


	11. Mistresses to the Dummies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~ Thea and Felicity scheme a little to get Tommy to finally leave the house, just in time for Oliver's first birthday back since he returned to Starling. ~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Maybe if I write it out enough times it will come out good? baby baby baby. Did you notice? Can you see the difference? Damnit, writing babies. Well, baby, single. Thank god it's not babies, that's in my favour—for now, at least.**
> 
> ~*~
> 
> (Putting this here because I can't seem to stick all of my end notes at the end!)
> 
>   **{So, Ollie's scars. Because we are disregarding season 4 and 5(which we have yet to see), some scars and tattoos will be absent. Something that didn't really register to me when I was writing the earlier chapters. So, here is what he has and doesn't.**
> 
>   **Has:**  
>  1\. The two arrow scars (right peck/left shoulder) that Yao Fei gave him.  
> 2\. The wound on his left ribs from Wintergreen.  
> 3\. The shark bite wound on his left hip.  
> 4\. The dragon tattoo on his back left shoulder with the scar over it.  
> 5\. And the burns on his lower back (which I believe we have yet to see how he got them, but I referenced it in chapter 8, so let's just assume he received it when The Amazo blew up).>/i>
> 
> **Has Not:**  
>  6\. The whip scars on his back right shoulder.  
> 7\. The Chinese lettering tattoo on his right ribcage.  
> 8\. The Bravta tattoo over his heart and the overlaying (claw?) scar.  
> 9\. And of course, the gunshot scar he got from Moira.} 
> 
>  ~*~  
>  **Sorry for the wait!**
> 
> **Some more baby stuff, and Tommy/Oliver smut & [SPOLIER] (a breastfeeding) kink.**

The wheels on the baby crib rolled smoothly from the landscape of his room's carpet to the hardwood of the hall. Tommy's blunt nails dug into the glossed dark wood of the crib end without leaving a mark, as he moved at a snail's pace, watched by two blond observers. Rebecca was out of his sights at the current moment, though he could hear Thea playing with the babe in the living room clear enough.

He knew this would happen one-day, that Rebecca Meghan would eventually have to actually sleep in her own room. The Omega just didn't think that day would fly up and slap him in the heart so soon. The pup's colic stage was over, there was no need to be arms reach of her constantly, despite him with the guilty wish that she still needed that. But he'd kept her in an extra month, and it was no longer almost-April it was nearly-May.

She was almost five-months now. It was scary, because he could have sworn that it was just a few weeks ago that he was getting out of the hospital, not five-months. He turned it into her doorway, and it jolted as he pushed it over the lip of the carpet, the wheels instantly going quiet on the softer landscape.

"Uhn." He groaned and stopped in the middle of the room, bowing his head. "I can't do this. It's too hard." He straightened and started to pull the crib instead of pushing it back against the blank space of the wall where it had originally lay until it became a part of _his_ room instead.

"Tommy," Oliver said softly. A hand on the small of his back, paused the Omega. The Alpha gently rubbed his back. "She'll just be in the other room."

"God!" he whimpered. He sent a glower over his shoulder to the second blond. "Why are you trying to tear us apart?" he demanded, his anxiety and insecurity directed at the not-so-unsuspecting Beta standing in the doorway. The only way out, no less. "You're an evil woman."

Felicity knew not to take it personally. This was just another of the Omega's new-parental freak-outs (that were probably a few monthly occurrence), she'd be more concerned if he wasn't having them. At least Oliver was a little more cool-headed in these situations—until the Omega converted him into a second-tier basket case.

"Everyone just needs to—"

"Don't you dare say ' _breathe'!"_ he spun towards her sharply, a finger just as edged pointed at her.

"Alright." She held up her hands in defeat and sighed. "If you're like this now, I'd hate to be around a few years from now when she'd ready to start going to school." She muttered to herself under her breath.

But apparently, it wasn't uttered quietly enough as the air seemed to freeze at her words and she had both fathers turn to stare at her like they were on those little rotational platform like mannequins in the department store. It was very... eerie.

"Did you say..." Tommy said.

"School?" Oliver finished.

She gulped. "No. I said..." she scrambled quickly and completely panicked and blurted, " _Schul._ You know— _schul."_ She waited with baited breath that they wouldn't realize that _schul_ was Yiddish  < German for school. But luckily, Oliver knew Chinese, not Yiddish. And Tommy only did one semester in high school of French and failed, but surprisingly passed a year of Spanish; still no Yiddish though.

The two men looked at each other. "School." They uttered in unison.

"Oh, God." Felicity face palmed with dread. What had she done? Of course they'd figure out that _schul_ was school. It was one hard 'C' from each other. "Oh, no..."

"She'll be away—eight-hours a day." Tommy muttered in dismay.

"That's... a long time." Oliver agreed, his voice slow.

"And-and high school." The Omega panicked. "I mean, I get hives just thinking about _Thea_ in high school... but Rebecca?" he carded fingers roughly through his hair. "That cannot happen, Ollie."

Oliver grasped his hand, pale. "College, Tommy." He croaked. He'd faced his death too many times to count, but this? This terrified him. "She's going to be smart, isn't she, Tommy? She's going to want to go to somewhere far away from home to go to college. All the kids do,"

Completely ignored at this point, unseen, Felicity, seeing and hearing enough, left the doorway for down the hall. When she returned a few minutes later, hands no longer empty, the conversation in the baby room had gotten completely out of hand. She couldn't let it get on any longer.

As two of Starling City's former playboys (and let's face it, man whores), they knew exactly how those devious frat boys worked. They would have none of that for their precious daughter.

"Okay," Tommy said reasonably (in a crazy way), "We can do this. Home schooling. It can't be that hard, right?"

Oliver nodded rapidly (in a overzealous crazy way). "Yeah, I mean—You have a MBA. And I went to... to a lot of schools..." (more got kicked out of).

"Oh, frak no!" Felicity took a fierce step into the room. "That it enough of this nonsense." They turned to her in surprise, like they just remembered that she was, in fact, there, just as she raised her hand—and both Alpha and Omega got a stream of water from the spray bottle in her hand, to the face. "Have you two lost your minds?" she demanded as they were left blinking at the water.

Oliver wiped a hand down his face before wiping the wet off on the seat of his jeans, and Tommy used the shoulder of his sleeve, leaving a darker patch.

"Excuse me?!" Tommy glared at her indignantly.

"Oh, was I interrupting something?" she inquired innocently, though was far from it, being that her innocent tone was laced with dripping sarcasm. "Like ruining your daughter's life (before she's even out of diapers) with the insane notion of home schooling while you're on a mid-separation panic on moving her crib back to _her_ room... something like that?"

They levelled her with fierce daddy-scowls (powerful things) but she didn't baulk under it. She held up the red spray bottle accordingly, light brow raised—not exactly cats-in-heat liked she'd once threatened Tommy when she was first teaching him how to wash his own laundry, but cats-wanting-to-scratch-her-eyes-out was a fair replacement.

"I hold all the power in this relationship right now and you don't even realize it." She said. She was standing between them and their daughter, though she knew that they didn't realize it now. Not that she would actually do anything, she was just going to have to do a little carrot-stick bait-and-switch. "So, we are going to take a _deep breath_ and think like rational human beings. Step one, **deep breath.** " She wagged the water bottle at them. Grudgingly, the pair both did as they continued to glare at her. "Step two—stop being crazy!" she got growls in response. "Now hear me out," she reasoned, "It's understandable to be anxious about those things. Every new parent is. Heck, even I am. But Rebecca going to school isn't for years off. You should focus on her now—"

"That's easy for you say," Tommy told her. "You didn't carry her for nine-months. You weren't the one who was afraid of what your father might do. You weren’t fighting for your life to protect hers at that bus stop." Tears pricked his blue-eyes. "Do you know how scary it was when the doctors pushed me from that room, from you? I didn't know if Rebecca was going to come out of it alright. I didn't know if I was going to wake up, dead or alive. If I was ever going to see Ollie again and tell him that we had a daughter..."

Oliver hugged the Omega to his chest, holding on tightly as he burried his nose in Tommy's shaggy hair. He honestly just needed to hold on to him right now. All these things, he missed. All these things, he might have been able to prevent. The latter two, the attack and the frightening emergency C-Section, he would have actually been able to do something about if he'd gotten his head out of his ass sooner. He could have been back three-months earlier, if he didn't run and self-impose himself on the island in guilt, grief, and anger. If he hadn't run away and instead ran back to Tommy, this... he really could have prevented this. He squeezed tighter. _I'm so sorry,_ he wanted to say, but would they understand?

Tommy nuzzled his way into Oliver's strong chest, his ear and cheek pressed against that strong beating heart. Alive, here. He knew, he knew—but it was still an irrational buzz at the back of his mind. Here was safe. But out there? It was a big wide world mounted full of dangers around every turn to a man with a newborn pup.

"Tommy," she uttered softly, the hand with the spray bottle dropping to her side. "You can't honestly think that something bad will happen every time you step outside now, can you?"

Cheek against Ollie's chest, he looked at her. "It's it really that far-off of a bet?"

"I'm sorry, Tommy." She swallowed. "I didn't realize."

"It's not like I was jumping at the chance to admit it either."

She had been absolutely so stupid! Of course he would feel this way, whether it was true or not. After all that Tommy had gone through while he was pregnant, it would have been very reasonable. And clingy was definitely better than postnatal depression. But she thought that it was certainly better that he was just mega-clingy at the moment. It was something that they could work on, and she was definitely going to be having a talk with Thea for them to make some plans to play the two men like little finger-puppets. But right now, she just wanted—

"Can I...?" she asked, her voice wobbly.

"Yeah," he croaked, the lump of emotion in his own throat and he opened his arm to her.

Felicity flashed from her spot to them in the middle of the room fast. She went into Tommy's open arm, his other still around Oliver on the other side, but Oliver's own arms were still around Tommy (even he hadn't been able to move fast enough). She pushed her face into the crevasse that lay between both their shoulders, Tommy's arm around her shoulders, her own under his arm and around his back, her other going along the same line of Oliver's back as his own, her fingers tangling with Tommy's own where they met.

Oliver had only tense for a moment before he eased back into Tommy, and accommodated to Felicity's arms and warmth. He'd always been a physical guy, especially with Tommy and Thea, it was how he showed his affection and love (of course, spending money always mirrored that, too). But on Lian Yu and in Hong Kong, that feedback had diminished into the shadows as he learned how horrible the true nature of strangers could be. There'd only been a handful of people with whom he'd ever felt enough trust to show such affections and leave himself vulnerable (but it was never a complete trust, he never allowed himself to). Yao Fei had saved him, had directed him, protected him. Slade in his way, taught him the truth on Lian Yu, prepared him. Shado gave him one of his greatest weapons, his strength and bow. The Yamashiros had taken him in back in Hong Kong, though in the beginning Amanda Waller had forced the relationship, it became mutual in the end; Maseo kept him alive, gave him the chance to come back to Tommy. Each warranted a different kind of his affection. Respect. Physical. Emotional. Familial.

Oliver believed that Tommy was the only one that he trusted implicitly. He was grateful towards Roy. He respected Diggle. Thea was his sister and that went without saying. Felicity, surprisingly, was a close second after Tommy.

Since coming back from the dead and returning to Starling, to his home, his family, he was remembering what it was like to be human. Morphing back into someone who didn't have to worry about having crosshairs between his shoulder blades (at least not in the reference to weaponry. There was still the issue of the paparazzi that still popped up five-months later after his return. Well, he _was_ the most exciting thing to happen to Starling since _The Queen's Gambit_ went down, and with him and Tommy being parents, it just added juice to the fire), back into the Ollie that didn't have to fear affection or intimacy for the concern on getting a knife in the kidney.

When his mom hugged him, the cold controlled exterior that she put on for the public, the company, melted with the warmth of her true love that she felt for him. Her hugs were sincere and warm. They made him feel like he was a kid again; before the island, before the anxiety's of being a teenager, before he knew just how troubled his parents' marriage actually was (before all the cheating), when he was all just scraped knees and cuddles with his mother. Speedy flew into his arms. He would always catch her. He'd never let her fall. He'd hold her up and spin her around. Not matter how old either of them got, it would never change. It didn't matter if they saw each other an hour ago or a day ago. From the day that he'd met Tommy, the Omega was a hugging beacon. Oliver never did hold back in his affection for the other man. Familial and brotherly back then, and more intimately now. And Felicity... they'd never hugged alone. It was too early in their friendship or whatever it was that they had. Instead, it was always ever a threesome hug between her, Tommy, and himself, like now, or a group hug. Which was a rare/common occurrence, if that could be a thing, in the Smoak-Merlyn apartment.

The hugs, in all their different ways, made him feel strong, safe, loved. It also made him feel vulnerable and exposed. It made him feel like he had even more to lose. It made him want to hold on tighter and never let go, but at the same time, let go so that he could defend.

He sighed into Tommy's dark hair, inhaling again, reverently Scenting. Though he could easily distinguish Tommy's scent from any other, at the same time, it almost didn't seem right when it wasn't all twisted up with the Beta's more subtle aroma of green apple. He almost found it hard to recall a time when hers wasn't twisted up in his. The scent of Tommy's Heat in Hong Kong had overpowered all other scent's tangled with the Omega's from long exposure, so he never detected it then and it had been three-years since he'd seen Tommy, let alone Scented him. It wasn't an annoying fact. More, it put him at ease to realize that if something ever happened to him, Tommy would have someone there for him and Rebecca, always. Even if in his darker moments, jealousy curled in the pit of his stomach at the fact that her scent and his own, had a similar dominance on the Omega.

Felicity finally took a deep breath, squeezing Tommy's fingers and tightening her arms around both men briefly, before she extracted herself. Her glassed lifted briefly as she stepped back and wiped her eyes before settling the lenses back onto the bridge of her nose.

Oliver pressed his lips to the Omega's shaggy dark hair. They parted slightly, but didn't separate far, an arm still around each other.

"You know you can tell me these things, Tommy."

"I know, I just... I hate feeling helpless or weak."

"You are not helpless or weak!" both Beta and Alpha growled fiery, like they had done back at the hospital in reference to Malcolm being a bastard. Or _Fuck Malcolm!_ more specifically. It was one of the rare occasions that Felicity actually swore. The two blonds shared a fast glance of understanding and camaraderie.

"You're one of the strongest people I know, Tommy." She declared.

"Stronger than me." Oliver agreed. "What I went through on the island, is nothing compared to what you had to put up with with Malcolm."

"Please don't say his name in this room," Tommy said. "I don't want Rebecca _ever_ hearing that name. I don't want her to ever know him. Her grandfathers are Robert... and Walter. He's been so good to Moira, Thea, and Me (and Roy and Felicity). God, why can't I be half-British?" There were little sounds of amusement in the room and the corner of his lips twitched upward. It was a truly serious thought that he'd allowed himself sometimes. If he could have been Walter's son, like he did when he was a kid with Robert.

"Is Tommy acting crazy again?" Thea called light-hearted; attempting to ease the anxiety that was leaking from the room. She'd heard bits and pieces filter into the living room. It wasn't like she was intentionally eavesdropping, but if she could hear them, it wasn't her fault. It wasn't some super-hearing thing, it was a modern-technology thing.

"I am completely rational... Normally." he groused.

The seventeen-year-old appear in the doorway next to Felicity, Rebecca held on her waist. She raised a plucked brow briefly at the water bottle in the Beta's hand and the corner of her lips twitched. The angle of her brow moved minusculely, but it change the meaning dramatically as she looked at Tommy and Oliver. "Oh, so you didn't almost go kidnapping-your-own-child-and-holding-her-hostage?"

"No." He said. "Now give me my daughter." Tommy took Rebecca from Thea and smothered the baby with kisses, snuggling her. "You're Auntie 'Lis is a big (dyed) blond meany!" he uttered mischievously.

"Hey! Don't bad-mouth me to your daughter, least of all about my hair!" she hissed the last bit, self-consciously smoothing said tied locks. Everyone had very tight compressed lips for a moment, knowing better than to laugh at a very sore spot of the Beta's.

Oliver immediately joined Tommy. Like there was an elastic band connecting each of them, always drawing them back together.

"So.. new daddies in the house," Thea addressed the two men snuggling their daughter between them with teasing humour and true fact, "If you've been under a rock for the last however many years and are new to this gig—smart people somewhere out there in the world a long time ago, invented this little thing called a _baby monitor_. It's this neat little invention that all parents use with newborns and toddlers even—to monitor said child while said parent is out of the room, or said parents have finally moved said child back to _her_ room. It helps transition the parents of the separation/milestone of the relationship and limits those pesky anxiety-ridden, mini freak-outs that are prone to happen." She gave them a cheeky-grin and turned the device in her hand, showing them the glittering gold back, "And as you can see for yourself, our own Felicity '(God) Momma Beta' Smoak has given them a dashing insurmountable number of Gold Stars—so you know the quality unanimous and reviews raving!"

Tommy shifted Rebecca into Oliver's arms and turned back to her with a dancing grin. He approached, grabbed her face, smooched her forehead and snatched the single baby monitor from her hand. He turned it in his hand, smiling at all the Gold Stars crowding the back. "Where's the other on?" he looked at the teen. "Aren't there supposed to be two?" he teased after her little monologue.

"Oh, caught that, did you?" she deflected.

"Thea, what happened to the other one?" Felicity asked. "Did you break it?"

"What? No!" she protested, because it was true. It was very much in working order. Her eyes flickered.

"Then what—" Tommy started, but stopped as he followed her hazel-grey flicker in the direction of the dresser that had little baby knick-knacks on it (even the green plush frog that Laurel had given them; he still hadn't the chance to use it yet, still feeding Rebecca directly from the source), and among them, was the faint gold glittering of a Gold Star covered baby monitor. He picked it up and looked at her, a dark brow raised silently.

She couldn't stop the fidget under its daunting scrutiny. When Rebecca became a teenager, she'd better be straight as an arrow or she was going to have to deal with a brow that was uniquely crafted for parenthood. And even Thea was having trouble with it.

"Were you... eavesdropping, Thea?" Oliver asked slowly, his blue-eyes narrowed. Having Rebecca in his arms just gave him that little-something, didn't it?

"Um... it was absolutely and utterly not my fault." She finally declared, finger raised. "They were already set up in here, and then you had your mini-freak-out and I had my hands full—"

"Thea Dearden Queen," was uttered in utter disappointment, coming in from three sides.

She looked at them with an indignant open mouth, incredulous. "Y—you, you had a group hug without me!" she accused them, attempting to change the subject.

"No, no, no." Tommy waged a mocking and devious finger at her, a monitor in each hand. "You don't get to change the subject from this very serious, and shall I say wicked act of unpreventable eavesdropping." His brow twitched at Felicity, a secret signal. His lip quirked at the teen impishly.

Thea honestly reacted like an unsuspecting cat. She was a completely unsuspecting victim like both men had been, but she was just an innocent Alpha teenage girl—brutally attacked by a small blond with a spray bottle. She cried out in shock, jerking back. She stood slightly hunched dripping with water, there was nearly a steady drip from the tip of her nose. She glared through the droplets on her eyelashes. Go expensive makeup, it wasn't $70 apiece and waterproof for nothing! She blew out breath, before she shook her head rapidly, water droplets flying a short radius around her

"Very undignified, Ms. Queen. Very undignified." Tommy shook his head slowly. His teeth flashed and his eyes danced with humour.

"So it's come to this, huh?" Thea snatched the spray bottle from the Beta's hand and directed it at Tommy.

"Ah ah ah!" he tsked, quickly crowding an mildly amused Oliver. "Innocent baby on board! Innocent baby!"

Her eye twitched. "Cheater, cheaty cheat cheat!" she cried foul. "Using your daughter as a shield when moments ago you were having a panic attack putting her crib back. That's very unbecoming of you, Mr. Merlyn. Criminal even, using an innocent like that." He stuck his tongue out. She eyed her brother. He gave her a challenging brow. Definitely too close to the innocent. She sighed. "Looks like I have no other choice." There was a flash of movement, the Beta, Alpha, and Omega flinched. It was only fair, after all.

Felicity gave a yip of surprise as her glasses lenses were spattered with close-proximity spray. "What-what-what?" she took her glasses off but was just as blind as before.

"You're as helpless as a turtle flipped on its shell, aren't you?" Tommy set the baby monitors down and took up one of the many spit clothes that were within easy reach (it _was_ a baby room, after all), and came in front of his blinded best-friend. "Here we go," he draped the thing over her entire face and started to 'smooch' it around, drying her face.

"Tommy!" came her muffled protested as the Omega chuckled lightly as she flailed uselessly at him with her free hand. He took it away, and plucked her glasses from her hand and squicked them dry with the cloth, before settling them on her flushed and pouting face, pushing them expertly up her nose. But he didn't step away and instead tweaked at her hair as she stared at him with pursed lips. "There." He smiled, admiring his handy work. "Better than new."

"I should squirt you again, just for that." She told him crossly.

"Nuh-uh. Why don't we just put this away?" he took the bottle from Thea (who's pretty face still glistened with drops), and went to the changing table against the wall, tapped a foot down, and promptly tossed the spray bottle into the used-diaper bin. "There. We'll never see that again." He dusted his hands of the whole thing as he turned back to the group.

"Tommy!" Felicity growled her protest. "You didn't have to throw it out!" She went to the changing table and picked it out from amid the soiled Pampers with delicate fingers. "Now I have to disinfect it." She complained, giving him a little glare.

"Orrr," he stretched the word. "You could just put it back and forget about the whole thing." He suggested. The last thing he wanted was to get squirted in the face again.

"I'll give you something to forget about," she warned him. She continued muttering under her breath as she left the room.

The Merlyn and Queen men shared looks.

"Well..."

Thea rolled her eyes at him. "Don't you know not to mess with a girls face? Jeez!"

"What?" Tommy squawked. "You're the one that sprayed her in the face!"

"You're hopeless." She sighed and shook her head. "Thank God you're with Ollie, you couldn't keep a woman otherwise."

"I resent that."

"Mr. Merlyn, get you act together!" she growled. "And put the crib against the wall, Roy and I didn't set this all up for you to gaze at its beauty. It was meant to be used." She sighed heavily and left them.

Tommy looked at Oliver. "Shit," he cussed quietly. "Well, I need 1982 Lafite Rothschild and more than a pint of chocolate chip and mint ice cream—and that's just a start." He drummed his fingers on the varnished wooden rail of the crib for a moment. "I was definitely peer-pressured into it." He took a deep breath and pushed the crib against the blank space on the wall, and the room was suddenly complete again.

With a hand at the nape of the man's neck, the Alpha pulled the Omega in for an approving kiss. "The nuances of women," Oliver said.

They paused and both man stared at their innocent daughter, her little pools of blue looking sleepily back.

"We're screwed."

x—x

Thea knocked lightly on Felicity's closed bedroom door, and opened it without the blond's permission, closing it again behind her. She found the Beta seated at the corner of the foot of her bed, her legs crossed. Felicity raised a questioning brow at her.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine." She pushed her glasses up her nose. "Sorry about the..." her finger made a circling gesture at her own face.

"Spraying me in the face at Tommy's behest?" the teen finished for her.

"Yeah, that."

"Me, too." She heaved a sigh and planted her hands on her hips. "I can't believe Tommy actually did that."

"So, what was his response after I left?" she wondered.

Thea grinned. "Oh, he's definitely going to be grovelling."

Felicity smiled. "Good."

The young Alpha flopped onto her bed familiarly, propping her head up on an elbow as the blond shifted to face her. "So, you saw it to? That man seriously needs to see the sun or soon he's not going to just 'kidnap' Rebecca, but everyone else he knows too and we'll all just become a family of hermits."

"As safe and lovely as that might be, he can't stay inside forever." She laid back with and explosive sigh, her arm flung out. "So, what bit of sneaky girl-power bid of magic are we going to cast to trick him out of the apartment?"

Both women were quiet as they contemplated their choices. But Thea was the one to grin mischievously. "Ollie's birthday is coming up,"

"Oooh," Felicity sat up like a spring with the sound.

"Yeah." Thea laughed. "Ready to play Mistress to those dummies?" her fingers danced sinuously in the air, like a master of strings.

"Just what every girl wants." She sniggered, her fingers dancing with the Alpha's. Thea had become her best-girlfriend, sister, and schemer-in-crime; a definite combo to watch out for and one that hit you before you even knew it was coming or even if you did. Seemingly surrounded by men, it was nice to have another woman around, even if she was a seventeen-year-old.

**aRRoW**

Oliver was dozing a little as he lay on the couch in the living room, shirtless, and with Rebecca laying on the left side of his chest, a blanket over the cluster of scars on his left side. The skin-on-skin contact helped with the bonding between parent and baby. Tommy smiled from where he sat on the floor next to the couch, his knees up and his side pressed against the furniture where he faced his boyfriend. His elbow was propped on the edge, his bare forearm lay warmly across Ollie's scar-free side of his ribs, his palm gently rubbing the pup's back as she rolled into slumber to the gentle rise and fall of her dad's breathing.

He shifted his position lightly, so his arm lay across Oliver's lower belly, tangling his fingers with the Alpha's where the blond had his hand up, a supporting warmth and security on Rebecca's side, his thumb caressing her back lightly now. He laid his head on his upper arm and kissed the bottom of Oliver's slightly protruding ribs in his reclined position.

The blond's brow twitched briefly and he cracked his eyes open to relaxed slits of blue. "Hey," he whispered, his voice lightly gruff.

"Hey," Tommy whispered back, smiling. Always unable to help the little shiver that the deep gruffness of the Alpha's voice caused. God, he loved it. "I got you an early birthday present." Though the man's birthday was just four days away.

"Tommy, you didn't—"

"Shut up," Tommy told him simply. Oliver sighed, but like a good Alpha, he did what his Omega told him. "Take my present like man," his grin was wicked. "I ordered it on-line, didn't even have to leave the apartment."

Oliver raised his hand and caressed the dark-haired man's cheek. "You and Rebecca are all the gift I need."

"While that's very sweet and will get my mouth full of something else," he winked. "I'm sure you'll like what I got you."

He could remember the exact moment that drove him to find this very gift. It was a very popular innovation amongst parents, especially in regards to feeding and bonding:

Oliver sat on the couch in the living room, bare-chested (something that was very easy in simply Tommy's company, though something that he was still uncomfortable to do in others), with Rebecca cradled in his arm, against his left peck and over the beating of his heart. Tommy sat at the other end of the couch, his back to the armrest, facing the Alpha, his legs stretched across the middle cushion that separated them, his bare feet firmly planted against the side of Oliver's muscled thigh.

The television was on the music channel, a quiet, soothing background noise, nothing more. Tommy didn't need anything else than this. He could simply watch Oliver, or Oliver with Rebecca and be content for nothing else.

"God, why do you do that?" Tommy wondered.

Oliver looked over at him with a furrowed brow. "Do what?"

"Look so goddamn hot. Seriously, you need to pick one, either be hot or be a dad. It's not fair to be both." He shifted his right foot along the Alpha's thigh to his waist, and his toes grazed along the smooth flesh above the waist of his jeans.

Oliver smirked. "I like to see you hot and bothered, that was entire intention for this whole thing."

"You know being a dad is the sexiest thing you've ever been?"

"I could say the same thing to you," he replied. "Couldn't have done it without you, after all."

"Damn right," he smirked. He bit his bottom lip and shifted his other foot, the pad rubbing against Oliver's zipper, who inhaled shortly in response.

Oliver raised a blond brow at him. "What is it with your feet lately?"

Tommy chuckled. "Just preparing in case of a wood chipping accident,"

"Why would you be wood chipping?"

He shrugged. "It's just one possibility in a line of other possibilities. You never know."

Oliver huffed and gave a soft chuckle, shaking his head. "You are incre—uoagh!"

The sound that left the Alpha so suddenly as he jolted was a thing released with no preformation of warning. He was utterly and entirely taken by surprise, as Rebecca had latched onto his nipple in the mistaken hope of getting fed the Omega's delicious milk anytime she latched onto said similar entity. If Shado had taught him an ounce less of self-control and restraint, Rebecca would not have been in his arms any longer (and that was definitely a no-no in regards to good, bad, or any kind of parenting at all). It was like the instinctual reaction of holding the potato fast, despite knowing it was going to burn.

Tommy's peels of laughter and Rebecca's startled crying, jolted the Alpha from the his shock.

Tommy's hysterical laughter didn't seem to be helping the situation. There was a flustered tint to the Alpha's scruff-covered cheeks. "Tommy!"

The Omega did finally manage to calm down, breathing a little heavy, out of breath, he sat up, wiped the laughter-tears from his eyes, and shifted on the couch so he was at the Alpha's side, though his shoulders did still shake with some repressed mirth at Oliver initial reaction.

He gently caressed her tiny skull, his head leaning on Oliver's shoulder, the closer to be to her, as he whispered. "Rebecca, my sweet baby girl. While you're father does have nice nipples," he made brief strained little sound in the back of his throat before he managed to continue in a relatively soothing voice, "They don't quiet function like that."

Oliver gave him a little glare at that, but with their combined forces of love and pheromones, she did quiet down.

"Would if I could, buttercup." Oliver whispered brokenly into her thick wispy hair, kissing the crown of her head. "I truly would." He hadn't really meant for the Omega to hear, but Tommy did anyways. Oliver didn't quite understand the tearing feelings inside his chest himself, but Tommy did.

Because Tommy had nine-extra-months with her, while Oliver didn't even know she existed. Tommy got all that extra bonding time, every single time he fed her, several times a day. Oliver didn't get that.

And Tommy understood where the inadequate feelings were coming from.

Tommy's caressed his cheek for a moment, before his hand went lower and brushed around the side of his neck, to the back. He cupped the nape of Oliver’s neck, squeezing it comfortingly. He was going to have to do something about this. ~

Hopefully, the present that Tommy got him would help reduce or eliminate entirely, Oliver's feelings of inadequacy at being able to give his daughter that sort of completion and connection that the Omega got when/after breastfeeding. Or it could completely insult the Alpha and end very badly. But with the way that Oliver viewed breastfeeding, Tommy believe it would be the former.

"Rebecca will be hungry soon, I'm sure, so we can do it then."

That got Oliver's brow to cock at a curious angel. "What are you up to?"

Tommy just smiled at him coyly, his free palm brushing up the side of Oliver's untarnished ribs, his thumb brushing precariously close to his nipple.

(o)(o)

"Sit in the rocking chair," Tommy instructed the Alpha as they entered the baby room. He took the awake Rebecca from his arms and placed her, for the moment, in her crib. She made noises at him. Yeah, definitely hungry.

"That's where you—" Oliver started in confusion.

"Do it," Tommy repeated, turning and closing the door. Felicity wouldn't be home from Queen Consolidated until late, and he wasn't expecting a visit from Roy or Thea, but he did it as a precaution and he was sure Oliver would feel more secure in the privacy of it.

Oliver sighed, but sat in the rocking chair that Tommy usually used for when he was breastfeeding Rebecca. The Omega was up to something and Oliver had no idea what it was. It made him a little edgy not knowing what it was, even if he trusted Tommy not to do something potentially harmful, the feeling was still buzzing around the edges. He stopped liking surprised four-years ago when _The Queen's Gambit_ went down.

"Tommy..."

"Oliver," he smiled at the restless man. He went over to the changing table where he had the small box amid the diapers, wipe packets, and baby powder. He opened it and pulled out the contents carefully, holding it between his hands so not to tangle anything and turned to the waiting man.

"And what is that exactly?" Oliver questioned as he showed it to him. To the Alpha, it looked like a seriously misjudged game of cat's cradle (of light straps and... tubing?).

"This, is what you're going to let me put on you." Tommy declared.

The blond still didn't look consenting of the idea. " _What_ is it, Tommy?"

"It's a device that helps simulate breastfeeding for those parents who can't." The Omega explained. It was a breast feeding simulator. For those carriers that were unable to breastfeed for whatever reason, or the other parent like Oliver, that wanted that bond and connection with the pup that bottle feeding never could quite capture.

"What? Did something happen?" Oliver asked instantly, tense. "Why can't you—wait." He halted. "You said put it on _me._ "

Tommy nodded. "I did."

"I don't—" he started to shake his head.

"Ollie," he said softly, "I saw the look in your eyes, the tone of you voice, when you were holding Rebecca and she tried to feed from you. How devastated you looked at thinking that this was something that you could never give her—but you _can_."

Oliver's cheeks flushed in utter embarrassment. "I am not—"

"Just try it. Once. For me. Please?"

Oliver didn't move, didn't say anything, just stared back a Tommy holding the contraption (who was waiting patiently, giving no pressure), his lips tight.

"If you don't like, we'll stop right away. We won't talk about it again. It'll never be mentioned. This is between you, me, and Rebecca. No one else, Ollie. Just us."

Rebecca fussed in her crib. Oliver hands tightened briefly, white-knuckled, on the rounded edge of the rocking chair's arms. He cleared his throat, his jaw bunched—and nodded. "Okay." He said quietly.

"Okay," Tommy smiled gently at him.

Tommy had him take off his shirt again so that he was bare-chested, and with sure movements, at Oliver's permission, he strapped it around his chest.

When it had arrived, Tommy spent the hour in his room behind a closed door, reading the instructions and pamphlet that came with it, to understand how it worked and how to set it up. And then set it up on himself, so when he did this for Oliver, he wasn't a fumbling-fool.

What straps there were, were soft and plush, and had the small tubing running through it. The straps went around the chest, under the armpits. The tubing was pliable. It extended slightly from the strap, to be adjusted and moved so that it inlay with the desired nipple. The tip of the tubing was specially made so the pup wasn’t simply feeding from a piece of plastic. On the opposite shoulder, a strap went over it. Attached was a elastic, insulated, mesh holder. This was where, with a specially made bottle would be placed, upside-down and attached to the other end of the tubing.

As a carrier's scent changes during pregnancy, so does it, post. For at least (in an Omega's case), until they have their first Heat post baby, or their milk dried up. The post-pregnancy hormones cause the scent glands at the carrier's nipple to secrete a particular scent to the pup, so they instinctually nuzzle and latch. And Tommy had made sure to rub his own scent on the end of the tubing as well.

It wasn't uncommon for female Alphas with a pregnant mate, to experience a synthetic pregnancy and to be able to breastfeed after the birth. Of course, this wasn't entirely possible for male Alphas, but the pheromones of their post-natal partner triggered the hormones in the male Alpha for nurturing and protectivity of the pup. Despite the fact that he and Oliver weren't Mated, the Omega knew that was what this feeling in the Alpha was.

Tommy stood up, and examined his work. Oliver sat straight, and stiff shouldered in the rocking chair.

"How does it work?" he questioned.

"You put the bottle of milk here," Tommy indicated the pocket at the shoulder, "Attach it to the tubing. You hold Rebecca just like I do when I feed her. She'll suck on the end of the tube at your nipple, the milk will come, and that's it. Oh, and look... a bottle of freshly pumped milk, courtesy of _moi_." He grinned and held up the special bottle that came in the box, filled with his breast milk.

"And when exactly did you have time to do that without me noticing?" Oliver raised a brow.

Tommy gave him an impish twinkle. "There's a lot of things I do that you don't see." He chucked the man under his chin. "It's still warm. Want to try some?"

A light shone briefly in Oliver's eyes at such an offer, but he shook his head. "Not now,"

"Alright." Tommy put the bottle in the shoulder pocket upside-down, and attacked the tube through the opening. The Omega kissed him on the forehead before he stood and turned to the crib. "Alright, baby girl." He picked up Rebecca. "Time for daddy to feed you."

Despite how awkward and self-conscious Oliver felt in the device, he easily took his daughter into his arms and relaxed back into the chair. Tommy shifted his holding position on the fidgeting babe to how he usually held her when he breastfed.

Tommy unclamped the clip at the start of the tube at the bottle, and the brief tubing in view before it disappeared into the strap, filled frothy white with the milk. The set up worked just as it did with a real feeding from a breast. When Rebecca sucked, the milk would come. When she stopped, it would stop.

Tommy's hand was gently at the back of her head as she squirmed, pressing her nose gently against the scarred peck, guiding her to the scent of both him and Oliver, but not _forcing_ her.

Oliver's face was slowly crumbling as she didn't take what was being given to her, though he managed to hide the sadness quite well, Tommy would always catch it.

"Come on, baby girl." He whispered, the pad of his thumb gently caressing her soft hair. "I know you're hungry." His other hand brushed over Oliver hair in a similar gesture.

This had actually been one of the first times that he'd used the pump and put his milk into a bottle. This was the first time that she was being feed, not in his arms, against his hairy chest, with his beating heart beneath it. It was a different pair of arms, against a not hairy chest, a different rhythm of heart. A different scent curling around her, with a different nipple and plastic thing pushed against her lips. Of course she wasn't going to snap at it like an eager little puppy dog.

"Tommy, this isn't—" he started, but then she latched onto the tube at his nipple. "Oh, Fuck... that's weird." Oliver gasped, unable to help the swear because it was just so damn weird. He tried not to swear around her. It didn't matter that she was too young now to understand what he was saying were bad words. He wanted to be out of the habit by the time she was old enough _to_ understand that they were bad and she shouldn’t say them.

"See?" The Omega sunk down onto his knees on the floor, at Oliver's own, his hands on his thigh. Tommy smiled broadly, his heart swelling. He was afraid that Rebecca wouldn’t take it, but she was sucking on that thing like a champ!

Oliver looked down at his daughter in his arms—and it made him want to cry. He never thought that he'd have this, be able to gain this kind of deep connection with Rebecca that the Omega had. But somehow, Tommy had found a way to give it to him.

"Happy birthday," Tommy murmured, his chin resting on his hands on Oliver's leg. _Beautiful._ Now he understood the way Oliver looked at him like it was the purest most powerful thing to be able to witness. Or why it looked like the man was always one-minute away from throwing him over his shoulder like a hunky caveman, take him to the other room, and then worship him (with tongue and all else). Because fuck, it was sexy.

Finally, Rebecca finished feeding. Tommy stood and draped the spit-up towel over Oliver's bare shoulder as the man positioned her upright and started to burp her. He easily unstrapped the device from around the Alpha, and took it, and the box out into the kitchen. He took out the tubing and washing it and the bottle, before packing it back up into the box. He quickly stowed it in his closet and returned to the baby's room.

Oliver was finished burping and just putting her back into the crib when Tommy came back.

Tommy grinned. "Didn't I say—" but he didn't get any further than that. Oliver grabbed him, pulling him in for a heated and hot kiss. Holding him close, while at the same time, pushing him back against the wall. All the while, devouring the Omega's mouth with his tongue.

When Oliver finally released his mouth, Tommy was a little dazed, breathless, and aroused. He pressed their foreheads together, a hand at the nape of Tommy's neck. "Thank you," he whispered.

"Glad you listened to me, then?" Tommy smiled at him. "I am older than you (three months, fourteen days), and wiser in these situations, after all."

"Should I call you old man?" Oliver teased.

"You young 'uns these days just have no respect," he joked, using his old-grandpa-voice.

Oliver huffed in laughter. "It does not surprise me that you made that sound sexy."

Tommy wrapped his arms around the Alpha's neck. "So, any idea what's planned for your birthday on Saturday?"

It was that hating-surprises that had Oliver knowing exactly what his mother had planned for his first-birthday back from the dead. "It's just dinner at the mansion,"

"No Big Queen Bash?" Tommy teased.

Oliver smirked. "Just an intimate dinner with family and friends." He repeated the familiar tag line. "If you didn't realize yet, I've outgrown the Party Queen Monster."

"Well, I'm definitely for the intimate part." Tommy husked into his ear, taking his lobe between his teeth. Oliver shudder against him, pressing him back into the wall with his pelvis.

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"Oh, it's going to be kept."

"Well, I have ideas of my own." Oliver promised him, pulling him into another tongue-twisting kiss.

**aRRoW**

Tommy was just minding his own business, he really was. Who's other business could it possibly be when he was sleeping in him own bedroom? But clearly, the blond Beta and brunette Alpha knew no such boundaries when it came to the Omega, as they bustled into his room. They threw open the curtains, flooding the dark room with bright afternoon sun. They jerked the blanket from covering him and manhandled him to his feet. It was a flurrying of confusion and movement as he was hustled from his room and down the hall, his mind still clogged with sleep from the sudden and unexpected wake up. The two women pushed him into the bathroom. And he just stood there, blinking in confusion, rubbing his eyes and looking rumpled and cute.

"Shower, now." Was barked at him.

"What," he mumbled, "is happening right now?"

"You smell a little ripe, Tommy." Thea told him very (not) gently. "You can't go out like that."

He blinked, a little more awake at the last comment. "Wait. What?" but apparently no one was too keen on repeating themselves right now.

"Shave, too." Felicity told him. "I haven't seen your whole face for months. I'm actually starting to miss it."

"Feli—"

"Now, Mr. Merlyn." She said. "We have a timetable to keep with." She tapped the nonexistent watch on her wrist.

And with that, Felicity and Thea stepped out of bathroom doorway, and promptly shut it. Tommy just stared at it for a moment, before he slowly turned and looked around the bathroom. He spotted the folded towels and his robe waiting on the closed towel hamper. On the back of the sink, he spotted his shaving kit. They were very determined for him to shower and shave, apparently. But his gaze totally and completely zeroed in on the large zebra coffee mug sitting on the sink counter, its contents steaming and the faint aroma of coffee and vanilla enticing.

He took a big burning gulp and groaned. Felicity had put in the vanilla/honey flavoured creamer that he loved. Alright, fine. He'd comply if they were so resolute, but only because the coffee. Otherwise, well.

He peed first, washed his hands, then stood in front of the mirror. He trimmed his growing beard first. He hadn't really seen the point lately in shaving since he had Rebecca. Oliver somehow maintained a perfect scruff, but Tommy had been all over the place. He intermittedly drank coffee as he trimmed, the white porcelain of the sink filling with dark hair. Since he was at it, he decided he might as well trim a few other hairy things, too. He rinsed the hair down the drain when he was finished.

Drinking the last warm dregs of his coffee, he stripped but before he stepped into the shower, he caught his reflection in the full body mirror that hung on the back of the bathroom door—and reluctantly halted.

Shit, was that really him? Well, it wasn't like he'd been actively looking in mirrors lately, either. He was sure he would have hardly recognized himself if he hadn't had that trim.

Tommy had never been fat, but he'd never been ripped like Oliver was now. He'd always been fit. He was active everyday. He used to go out for runs or go to the gym, even do laps in the pool. He tried out for sport teams with Ollie when they were teenagers, and partied through college (which was a very active lifestyle, not to forget that sex was a very good cardio). But ever since he came back from Hong Kong? Pregnancy didn't count as being fat, he was sure. He only had a tiny human growing inside of him after all. But, what about after? He did spend a month laid up in the hospital, then went straight to bed rest before he gave birth, and hadn't left the apartment in five-months since. Not a very active life-style at the moment.

He was... flabby. Still carrying the pregnancy fat. Because the dark hair that covered his torso, he couldn't really discern the stretch marks, but he was damn sure they were there. But the C-section scar, cut straight through his pubic hair, like a boundary line between the safe zone and the danger (erogenous) zone. He traced it with his middle finger. It was still a bit sensitive, but nothing like in had been in the tub when Oliver first touched it.

He sighed discontently at his reflection. He could blame it partially on the hormones flooding his body, because he was still breastfeeding, because he was still stuck in that 'mode' of low sex-drive—but he still had a part to play, shutting himself up in the apartment. It was mostly a choice.

What the hell could Oliver find attractive about him right now? He looked downright... frumpy. Carding a hand through his long shaggy hair, he turned from the mirror with an exhale. It hadn't been this long since he was a little kid and before he came into his dynamic.

He pulled back the curtain and stepped into the shower, turning the water on. He had no idea what they had been talking about; he didn't... smell. But he scrubbed thoroughly, every nook and cranny lathered in soapy suds. Honestly, he almost slipped twice, would have if it weren't for the little yellow duckling slip-resistant stickers that Felicity had put in the tub when they first moved in. He shampooed and conditioned his unruly black hair that was truly out of control about now.

Finished, he turned the taps off and stepped from the shower, dripping onto the mat. He grabbed one of the towels from the on top the hamper and dried himself off, scrubbing his hair damp. He put that in the hamper and took a fresh, dry one to wrap around his waist. He shuffled on the mat over to the sink—and noticed for the first time another fresh cup of steaming coffee waiting for him. Thea or Felicity (more likely Felicity) must have come in while he was in the shower and left it. He drank some from a giraffe mug this time around.

He put deodorant on (thank you very much) and cleaned his ears, before he filled the sink and got out his razor and shaving cream to finish off what he'd already started with the trimmer. He rubbed at his clean-shaven chin as he looked at himself left and right in the mirror. Wow, it really had been a while since he'd seen his whole face like Felicity had said. Would you believe him if he forget that his dumb father's chin?

His face was a little pale and red, the skin dry from where it'd been trapped beneath his beard for months. Solution: lotion. And he put that shit everywhere! And that special kind Thea had found for said hidden stretch marks, the cream that would help reduce the C-section scar faster, and another special kind that breastfeeding parents used on their nipples. Man, he was just a campaign slogan for selling lotions and creams.

Slapping on a little aftershave and feeling the sting, he put on the robe and picked up the half-drunk coffee and left the bathroom in which he had been unceremoniously awoken and shoved into.

He followed the smell of cooking food down the hall, through the living room and into the kitchen, where three of his best ladies were currently residing.

"So, anyone want to tell me what the hell that was about?"

"Wow," Thea gaped at him. "And who are you?"

"Ha ha, very funny." He rubbed at his clean jaw self-consciously.

"Seriously, I could have sworn that we dragged a big, hairy bear out of bed."

"I know some people who don't mind so much," he winked. He set the half-finished mug on the table as he sat in the empty chair next the high chair that Rebecca was in, adjustable depending on her age. "Hey, baby girl." He gave her kisses.

Thea made a face. "I do not need to know that." And turned away before he could see the warmth in her cheeks. He chuckled like he already knew.

"Here you go," Felicity set a plate in front of him. An omelette with the works.

"Thanks," he dug in as his coffee was topped off. "So," he started after swallowing, "Coffee, lunch... is someone going to give me a foot massage next? 'Cause I'd be into that, no questions asked."

Thea rolled her eyes. "In you're dreams, Romeo. Thanks," Felicity gave her a plate as well, before the blond sat at the table with them with her own.

"Well, then, what?" he asked around his food. "It's not _my_ birthday."

"Mrs—Moira," Felicity flubbed. Calling Moira, Moira, was still a new thing in the Beta's life. In private, personal things like this, Oliver's birthday dinner, Moira had said that there was no need for formailties (the same went with Walter), while at work or in public, it was Mrs. Queen or Mr. Steele. It was a hard habit to break and she was still working on it. "Planned a dinner party for him, we're going. Meaning you and Rebecca, too."

"I know." He said easily. He pushed his empty plate away and wiped his hands on a napkin. "I told Oliver when I gave him his gift a few days ago."

"You gave him his gift already?" Thea complained. "What was it?"

"That's..." Tommy smiled at her mischievously, "Private."

"Ugh! Stop doing that," she complained.

"As long as you keep reacting like that, I'm never going to stop." He gave her a cheeky grin.

"Oliver's my brother, you're like my brother. It's gross," she groused.

"You're just going to have to deal with it." He turned to Rebecca, and pulled her up out of the chair. "You're probably hungry, huh?" he addressed Thea again, "You're the one that keeps going to dirty, dark places whenever I say something."

He loosened the tie around his waist slightly, and shrugged out of the right shoulder of his robe, exposing most of his chest. He adjusted Rebecca in his arms, and she latched, sucking. The nipple cream that he'd put on in the bathroom, was all natural, organic stuff, so it wasn't harmful to her—which every parent wanted in a nipple cream!

"So, what else do you have in store for me?" he asked as they finished eating and he continued to feed the pup.

"It's Dress Up Ken Day!" Thea grinned. "And before we leave, you're going to be pumping out bottles like a production line."

"You say things so eloquently," he responded dryly, "It's a wonder you don't have a boyfriend."

"As far as you're concerned," she said equably, eating a precisely cut piece of omelette eloquently.

"What?!" he demanded as it registered exactly as she said.

"Hm?" she looked at him innocently through blinking long lashes. Felicity attempted to hide her smile in her coffee cup.

"You have a boyfriend? Since when? Who is it? Does Ollie know?" he interrogated her incessantly, unintentionally dislodging Rebecca from his nipple. She started to cry. His attention was instantly diverted. "Oh, baby." He gently rocked and shushed her, forcing himself to calm down. But by the time that he looked back up, ready to continue his questioning—it was to find Thea with her chin propped up in her palm, with glossy pouty amused lips and glowing hazel-grey eyes. "You—" he started in realization.

She chuckled. "It's a wonder I wouldn't tell you (or Ollie) even if I did."

"So you don't—?" he watched her closely with narrowed and suspicious eyes.

"No, dummy." She sighed. "Life's a little busy right now with my brother back from the dead, it's a little hard to tell the genuine from the creep."

"Good." He murmured in relief as he cleaned Rebecca and himself up a little; she seemed too disgruntled at the moment to go back to feeding. Because his next question was almost going to be: _It better not be Harper!_ which wasn't really a question. But he remembered the conversation that he, Felicity, and Oliver had on who-would-be-dating-who in their little alternate universe, and at the moment it seemed like a pretty grave concern. He righted the shoulder of his robe. "So, what else do you have in mind that I don't have a choice in?" he asked them brightly.

Felicity got a really happy look in her blue-eyes that her glasses did nothing to shield. "Tommy's Unruly Hair," she addressed, "Say hello to my Scissors!" and she whipped out a pair of gleaming, sharp barber scissors from places unseen, like they'd been hiding in waiting.

He eyed them, then her. "Really?"

She nodded. "I've been wanting to do this for a _long_ time." It was said very intensely.

Thea took Rebecca from his arms, burping her before settling her. And Felicity whipped out the black plastic hair skirt from another unknown place and had it around his neck in a snap. A comb tugged through his still damp hair.

"Calm down, woman! Jeez," he huffed. "It's not a race. Do you even know how to do this?"

"Yes," she said precisely from behind him, followed by a very defined _snick_ of the scissors through his hair—and there was no turning back what may come. "Whoops," she uttered, halfway through.

"What?!" he cried out, halfway out of the seat, the cut hair on his shoulders going all around as he started to twist, his expression one of horror. "What did you do? You said you knew how to cut hair!"

Felicity put a hand on his shoulder, and pushed him back in the chair. "You're getting hair everywhere." Thea buried her face into Rebecca's tummy, attempting to sniffle her laughter, making the babe squeal at the tickles. The Beta's own lips were pressed tight to hold in her own laughter.

"Screw that, what about the hair still attached to my head, woman?"

"Joking. It was a joke, Tommy."

"Well, it wasn't a very funny one." He said tetchily, reaching up petting at his hair. But he couldn't really tell if there was a real-whoops as opposed to a joke-whoops. "It's fine how it is. I like it."

"You don't even know what it looks like."

"I'm sure it's fine."

"If you leave it like that, you'll look deranged." Thea rolled her eyes at him. "Stop acting like a child and sit back."

"You don't mess with a guy's hair, okay?" he growled. "It's just one of those things you don't do."

"What? That's a girls' saying, Tommy." She chuckled.

"Well, it still counts, okay?" he said. "It's her hair. I have my mom's hair, so, just be serious, alright? No messing around."

"I'm sorry, Tommy." Felicity apologized. She rain her fingers caringly through the half-finished cut. "I won't mess it up."

He nodded. "Just tell me when you're done." And with one last look of Rebecca safe in her aunt's arms, he closed his eyes. For the next thirty-minutes, Felicity combed, cut, ran her fingers through, moved his head about, and even took out the electric shaver with a guard in place and trimmed it at the nape of his neck and around his ears—before she brushed him off, took the cape away, and swept up the floor.

"Finished," she declared.

Tommy swiped at a few stray hairs that he could feel tickling his face before he opened his eyes. "What does it look like? Is it okay?" he asked. He reached up and touched it, and wow that was short! "Let me see."

"Nuh-uh." Thea denied him.

He looked at the teen. "What do you mean: nuh-uh?"

"No looking until we're done with you." Felicity told him, putting away the scissors and plastic skirt.

"Why...?" he wondered slowly, pushing his chair back and rising from the table (adjusting the robe). "It's terrible, isn't it?" he felt his hair again self-consciously, and rubbed at his chin.

"Stop worrying, you're very pretty." Felicity reassured him.

"Definitely better now that we can actually see that face," Thea agreed, pinching his cheek playfully.

He turned his blue-gaze from one to the other, chin raised. "The shake-down compliments... are softening you're previous transgressions."

"That's the spirit." Felicity rubbed his shoulder. "Now room."

Tommy grinned at her. "Mine, or yours?"

"I told you what would happen if you were untoward move on my _delicates_ —"

"Whoa, please stop." Thea called from down the hall. "I told you I didn't want to know about your weird sex-games."

The Beta and Omega shared a laugh and followed the Alpha to his room.

o—o

"So, what exactly is all of this about?" Tommy questioned, sitting on the corner of his bed as Felicity and Thea went through his clothes hanging in his closet. Said closet, was like the archives of all his old, pre-pregnancy days. All the clothes he wore now were in the dresser.

Rebecca was in the car seat, sitting on the bed next to him, leaving them hands free. He played with her little feet, making her kick and loving the little noises she made.

"We have to make you presentable if we want to you on the mansion grounds," Thea told him, "They don't let wild, hairy animals in just anywhere you know? Plus, it's a party favour."

"A party favour," he repeated. He raised a dark brow at them, his arms crossed over his chest. "So, your present to Oliver... is me?"

"Party favour," she corrected with a smirk. "What do you get the guy who went through hell?" she mused, "The love of his life, of course. With less hair than before."

He chuckled lightly. "Alright. If you think he'll go for that." He picked Rebecca out of the car seat and laid back on the bed, sitter her on his chest, the bare soles of her little feet padding him on the chin. He nibbled her little toes. "I haven't worn any of these clothes in a year. They are not going to fit me."

"It's just baby weight." The blond said over her shoulder.

Tommy scoffed. "Can it really be called that when the baby is _outside_ of me?" he sat up, with his pup stood in his lap, bouncing to her delight.

"It's just your hormones and the fact that you haven't stepped outside the apartment in five-months."

"What, I've left the apartment!" he protested.

"What, when you thought you'd feng shui the place because you were bored and feeling cooped up and inactive, and you got a cramp because it'd been months since you did anything remotely physical since you were working?" She raised a shaded brow. "Did you really leave the apartment? There's a dent in John's door that states otherwise."

"That was necessary given the circumstance of the situation." He replied stoically, never mind his glower at her and her sweet smile at him:

Tommy was alone, as wasn't _unusual_. He'd just changed and fed Rebecca and put her in her crib to nap, singing her to sleep. He'd usually use this opportunity to nap himself, still at low energy reserves from her bout of colic that had recently dissipated. But he felt restless instead, he needed to move. And so setting up the baby monitor on the kitchen table, he came up with the brilliant idea of rearranging the living room—by himself—because he was just so sick of looking at the same damn thing all the time.

So he got right into it, no preamble, no plan. Pushing, shoving, pulling, grunting, sweating. When the fuck did the couch get so heavy? Not that he'd even done this before when they moved in. _Hello, Movers! That's what I paid you for._ So, giving up on that for later, he moved the coffee table—which accomplished absolutely nothing until he could shift the damn couch around. The arm chair, that was definitely easier than the couch, but ultimately just got in the way of his progress with said couch.

"Shit." He paused and surveyed. What exactly had been going through his mind to attempt this in the first place?

It was a sudden cramp, shooting right up his leg and into his back. He cried out, in shock and pain. And in a similar way when he'd gone into labour, he scrambled for something to hold onto. Coincidently, he was by the apartment door now as well. But this time, the side table was in no mood to hold him this time around. It overturned, crashing to the floor, its top contents scattering, the single little drawer spilling open. Rebecca started to cry at the noise, her crib still in his room. He flailed, his leg stiff and back too. The last thing he wanted was to fall, to be unable to go to his daughter. He grabbed at the coats hanging from the hooks on the other wall, hoping they would anchor him but he just pulled them down after him.

"Ah!" he yelped at the stunning and aching pain that went through his elbow, rocking his funny bone that never got a laugh out of anyone but whoever it _wasn't_ affecting.

"Daddy's coming, sweetheart!" he called to his crying babe, but it would be no assurance to her. She didn't understand her words, even if she could hear him over her own cries, and his tone wasn't all that reassuring either. He kneaded desperately at his cramped leg. But it was like the cramp had been in waiting and now out of hibernation, it was fully energized and _was not_ dissipating!

He couldn't really get to her unless he dragged himself across the apartment, and even then it wasn't like would be able to _pick her up_. Especially, not with his back. If it was just his leg, it would have been fine, but his back... goddamn his stupid back! He didn't have his cell phone, the only other person close at hand was Diggle across the hall.

He reached for the doorknob with a grunt, it seemed lucky that this was the place that he fell. He pulled it open, clearing half the scattered crap from the table, but there was still the after-blow of knick-knacks and junk around him—There were a mess of things to throw.

"Diggle!" he yelled. He grabbed a rubber band ball that he had started to compound, and irritated Felicity. He threw it at the door with a _thump!_ Next, was the laundry keys; it was a musical kind of crash. "Diggle! Fuck." A roll of quarters (that luckily didn't explode on impact). "Diggle, I need a little help here! Come on, man." He cursed and grabbed the nearest thing. The key tray. He was a little surprised the thing hadn't smashed when the table toppled, but he was sure it was definitely smash now. "John!" he pulled his arm back, but as he was about to throw it, Diggle's door opened and the Alpha looked pretty irate.

"Merlyn, what—" Diggle stopped instantly at the sight that greeted him. Tommy in an awkward heap on the floor in the doorway, a mess around him, Rebecca shrieking. "Tommy, what happened?" the man instantly went to him, reaching for him.

"It's just a cramp. I'm fine!" Tommy said through gritted teeth. "Agh, just, Rebecca. Can you get Rebecca, please?"

Diggle instantly changed course, stepping over Tommy tangled in coats easily with his long legs and disappearing down the hall, following the pup's cries.

Tommy sighed in relief as he heard the instant pitch change in her cry as she was picked up. He could vaguely hear the soft rumblings of Diggle's deep voice through the baby monitor on the kitchen table. It took longer to soothe her with the unknown Alpha comforting her; she'd never been held by Diggle before. The Omega swung the door closed and continued to rub at his leg, try to work the cramp out faster, turning on his side with a grunt and trying to do the same to his back.

Finally, Rebecca's cries quieted then stopped. He could hear more clearly through the monitor, Diggle settle her back into the crib, and then the music of the mobile over her crib. A moment later, he reappeared in the living room. Tommy managed to sit up, at least.

"Is she okay?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, all the noise and your yelling just scared her."

He grimaced. "You settled her like an expert," he commented (and maybe fished a little) trying to deflect from his guilt.

"Do you want help up? or I could go back to my apartment." Diggle told him.

Tommy glowered up at the Alpha for a moment. "Please," he relented.

Diggle reached down and grasped him arm, hauling him up without breaking a sweat and helped him limp to the couch that was not where he last remembered. If anyone was beating Oliver's island bulk, it was Diggle, who was definitely broader. Tommy slumped into the couch with a grimace.

"Man, look at this place." Excluding the mess around the door from the Omega's fall, all the furniture in the living room was definitely no longer in any sort of 'arranged' place. "What were you doing?"

"Just... rearranging." He flapped his hand meaninglessly.

Diggle raised a brief brow then shook his head. "I don't want to know." He sighed. "You said it was a cramp?"

"Yeah. It started in my leg, then it kind of seized my back. I tried to grab onto something, but I just knocked the table over, and then I went into the coats—and it was this whole thing." He tried to finished off as fast and as vague as possible.

"That what happens when you go from inactive, to sudden unaccounted activity and strain with out so much as a stretch in preparation—am I right?"

Tommy silence was all the answer that the man needed, because it was the absolute truth of the matter. And he felt completely embarrassed under the Alpha's knowing, unwavering, amused-tinted, brown eyes.

"I'll just leave you to your... rearranging." He started for the door.

"Wait!" Tommy called plaintively.

Diggle paused and looked over his shoulder, a brow raised. He was totally going to make him say it, even if he was sure what the Omega was after.

Tommy took a deep breath. "Could we, maybe not tell anyone about this? Felicity, or you know— _anyone?_ " he gave the dark-skinned man a charming smile (that apparently fell short on the impervious man of stone!). "And maybe, help me with this. A little?"

Diggle took a very deep, unimpressed breath, but Tommy knew he had him. The Omega didn't care if it was pity, he'd take it. ~

"Yeah, I knew that guy was a teddy bear." He muttered, standing and putting Rebecca back into the car seat. "And I telling everyone now! He said he wouldn't tell anyone, and he lied. So from now on I'm calling him Johnny Teddybear!"

"Wow." Thea remarked. "We really need to get you out of the apartment."

"Shut up," he chuckled lightly at her, and ruffled her hair before she could jump out of his reach in realisation.

"Here, try this and this. And this, too." Felicity said, handing over a pair of black flannel-lined jeans, a dark-green collared-shirt, and one of his navy-blue cardigans.

He took them. He was sure the shirt and sweater would be fine, but he was rather dubious about the jeans. "Do you want to pick out my underwear, too, or should I go commando?" he smirked.

Thea made a face, whacked him on the shoulder, grabbed up the car seat with Rebecca in it, and left the room. "I don't wanna know!"

"She really is going to get you back one day." Felicity mused.

"Hm. So the underwear?" he teased.

She got that determined look and spark in her blue-eyes. "I take my work very seriously, Thomas."

"Oh, so you're going to go for it, huh?" he watched her in amusement as she dug through his top drawer. "If you find anything weird in there, just ignore it." He joked.

"Ignoring that." She sang. "These ones." She straightened and turned to him, holding out a pair.

He took them. "Silk, huh?"

She just raised a brow. "You said your scar's still bothering you sometimes, right? This will help with the button of the jeans." She gave him a bright smile. "Something else to say?"

"No..." She left him, closing his door. "Huh." She really did think about everything. He dropped the robe, and dressed. And somehow, the jeans weren’t as restricting as he imagined they would be. Was he just not as fat as he assumed? "Well?" he asked them when he came out of the room. He got two grins and a goofy baby-smile for his trouble.

"Now start pumping out those bottles like a production line," Thea chirped up.

He gave her a look. "Shouldn't I have done that _before_ you made me get dressed?"

She rolled her eyes. "We had to make sure you looked good, first."

"That's very considerate of you." He deadpanned.

"I try."

He sighed and stripped from the sweater and shirt. "Give me the pump and some bottles."

**aRRoW**

The Beta, Alpha, Omega, and pup drove over to the Queen Mansion in Felicity's car. They were instantly let through the gate and pulled up the brick drive round front. When they got out, Oliver was waiting for them on the step. Someone came and got their overnight bags from the trunk, and another took the keys from the blond Beta, and moved the car.

_Probably the cheapest thing at the Mansion_ , Felicity thought fondly. It may have been cheap and bought used, but she'd got it with her own money that she had earned.

"Whoa." Oliver gasped to himself as he saw the Omega. Tommy went to him, Rebecca in a cute little outdoor outfit on his hip, Felicity had the empty car seat. "You look—" he started. "I can see your face." He reached out and caressed the dark-haired man's clean-shaven jaw. "Your hair, too." The same hand went around his neck, and petted at the short hair at the back of his head. He pulled him in for a kiss, his other hand on Rebecca's back.

"I did it myself." He chuckled, "Almost forgot how." Thea cleared her throat pointedly. He glanced at her and rolled his eyes. Oliver furrowed his brow in question. "But the idea was Thea and Felicity's. They dragged me out of bed, showered, shaved, and trimmed me. Fed me, dressed me, then pumped me like a cow at a dairy farm."

"A cow at a dairy farm? What?" Oliver stuttered, looking between them all with wide-eyes. "What is happening right now?"

Tommy snickered.

"Happy birthday!" Thea sang, gesturing at Tommy with energetic hands and wiggling fingers, showcasing the man. "Like it?"

"You spruced Tommy up and are claiming that as your gift?" he said slowly, looking at her.

"Um... yes?"

"You really are my sister!" he laughed.

"Was there ever any doubt?" she asked.

"Never." He hugged her.

"Wow. I forgot what it felt like to be objectified." Tommy muttered. Then grinned, "Just what I needed."

"Can we go inside before this gets any weirder?" Felicity wondered.

"Yeah." Oliver nodded, releasing his sister and putting an arm around Tommy's shoulder. "Mom really want to see Rebecca. Walter wants to meet her, too."

He led them inside. Their coats were taken, before they went to the sitting room where Moira and Walter were waiting. The lounge table set with pre-dinner drinks and appetisers (all of Oliver's favourites, of course).

"Tommy!" Moira smiled at him. "I hardly recognized you."

"Yeah, I've been getting that a lot today." He replied.

"It's been months since I've seen you." She kissed him on the cheek in greeting. "And my granddaughter." Tommy let her take the pup. "Look at her, Walter, dear."

Walter smiled, a hand on the Alpha’s back. "She beautiful, Tommy, Oliver."

Oliver got all smiley. "She definitely get's that from her dads."

"Dork." Thea smacked him lightly on the chest.

"Yeah, sorry." Tommy told Moira. He scratched the back of his head self-consciously. "I've sorta been..."

"Don't worry." She said. "I was the same way with both Oliver and Thea. Especially Thea." She said more to herself than anything.

"What do you mean, 'especially Thea'?" said daughter questioned.

Moira gave her one of those secret smiles. She and Robert had been very cautious after Thea was born, keeping her in-house and careful of who saw her longer than was probably considered regular. Determined to keep the true reason between the two of them. Now, it was only a secret she knew. "I figured you'd be a trouble maker."

"What?!" Thea exclaimed. "You have met your son, right?" she pointed at said son.

Oliver laughed. "I wasn't that bad."

Tommy, Moira, and Thea all gave him looks; the people who knew him best back when.

"I'm sure the tabloids didn't even cover half of it." Felicity mumbled into her red wine that she had acquired, and Thea snickered next to her.

"You have no idea." She whispered.

Tommy rubbed Oliver's shoulder briefly and gave him a teasing-worried look, "You have met yourself, right?"

Oliver spread his hands. "Look, I know that I got into some things—" he tried to defend his former-self.

"Shh, shh, shh." Tommy just put his whole hand over the Alpha's face, quieting him. "You were the definition of a rich trouble maker."

"And what about you?" the Alpha asked, taking Tommy's hand from his face, but keeping a hold of it. "I seemed to recall you present for all my trouble-making fun."

"I was just—"

"A love-sick puppy trailing after?" Thea piped in playfully. Tommy glowered at her, and Oliver smirked.

Moira gently cleared her throat and raised that blond brow at her daughter. Thea gave her a little wide-eyed look, going a little red. Of course the older Alpha knew of her daughter's crush on Thomas. She knew even before, when Thea was eleven and came up to her and asked her if she _could marry Tommy if Oliver didn't 'tie the Knot,'_ it said with double meaning that someone so young shouldn't have known. Luckily, thankfully, Tommy only ever saw Thea as his little sister, and nothing more.

"Why don't we all sit down and you can tell us how you have been, Thomas?" Walter suggested and they all convened on the couches and chairs around the lounge table.

Finally, Raisa called dinner time and they switched the sitting room out for the dinning room. When they sat down to ate, the Alpha had somehow managed to convince the Omega woman join them. It was a nice intimate dinner with family and friends.

When they finished eating (being only seventeen, Thea was allowed a maximum of two glasses of Champaign on special occasions), and before it was time for cake, Rebecca started making cries of hungry as they retreated back into the sitting room. It was such a rare thing that Tommy wasn't the one feeding her. Other than the night with Oliver in the nursery, there had been no other occasion when it wasn't straight from the source. Thea tried to wheedle her way into getting to be the first to feed the pup, but Moira easily took first claim.

Felicity got the bottle bag, separate from the diaper bag, separate from her clothes bag. Oliver watched Tommy take out a bottle and raised his eye brow at how many were still left over.

Oliver chuckled. "Is this what you were talking about when you said you pumped like a cow at a dairy farm?"

"You have no idea," he muttered. But a bottle wasn't the only thing he got out. Finally, this was a time for Mr. Frogellstein, the plush frog bottle cover that Laurel had given him in the hospital, to be used. He marked it with both his and Ollie's scents, before slipping the bottle in the mesh tummy, and the bottle nipple out the mouth.

He handed the warmed bottle over to Moira, who was already sitting with Rebecca in her arms, at the window seat with Walter. She smiled as she took it, and turned her attention to the pup and the dads returned to the couch at the lounge table with Felicity and Thea.

"You're good at that, Moira." Walter murmured at his Alpha. "Haven't forgotten a thing."

Moira gave a soft smile. "I've had practise." Because she was an Alpha, she hadn't been able to produce enough, so she had to bottle-feed both Oliver and Thea. She was lucky to have even gotten pregnant, especially the second time with Thea. "It brings back a lot of memories. Things were simpler when they were just pups who fed and slept."

"Mm." Walter hummed gently. "They're lucky to have a mother who cares for them. I hope they feel similar about me."

"They do."

"I only have a few more Heat's left in me, darling." He told her. "But somehow, I still managed to gain, a beautiful Alpha in my life. And five surrogate children, if I may." Two Alpha, two Beta, and one Omega childern to be more precise, and he'd come to love each of them.

She smiled at him. "A whole litter." He chuckled warmly and kissed her cheek.

Tommy smiled at the sight and turned back to the others. He leaned into Oliver. "Your mother's happy. She's seemed softer with Walter. How are you doing with that?"

"It's still weird to see her with another man," he admitted. His arm was laid across the back of the couch. Tommy leaned against the side of his chest, and the Alpha petted at his short bangs. He'd grown to like carding his fingers through the Omega's hair (and he knew Tommy enjoyed it), so he was glad that when Felicity cut his hair, though she trimmed the sides and back short, she still left a little something on top for him to work with. "But I'm glad that she found someone who loves her so much and isn't afraid to show it."

x—x

The lights dimmed to near darkness, but the candles that decorated the cake lighted the way. Oliver was left seated with Rebecca in his lap (who was totally going to be cranky for not being able to get a nap in there somewhere between being passed around from person-to-person like she was a nice snuggling warm potato), while the others stood around him.

The shadow and light played across his face, revealing and hiding the upward curve of his mouth as his family sang to him.

Back on Lian Yu, he couldn't tell the date. His watch broke and was clogged by sea water. There was no seasonal change. It didn't snow, the trees didn't grow naked. It was night, it was day. It rained, it didn't. The sun came up one side of the island and went down on the other. That was his calendar, his passage of time. His birthday didn't really matter, then, did it? Just surviving. Hong Kong was different. He knew the passage of time, the date, despite that it seemed to blend together, yet was separated into different layers at the same time. What did his birthday matter then? (two on Lian Yu, one in Hong King) Oliver Queen was dead, he didn't get birthdays.

The last time happy birthday was sung to him, he'd turned twenty-three. It was by hundreds of strangers who didn't even know him or care about him, they just wanted to party. There had been only a handful of people there that he actually knew the name of. Not that he really cared about that back then. He just wanted to party, have a good time, with no responsibility. Two of them were dead now, one couldn't stand the sight of him (with good reason).

Now, he was turning twenty-seven, four-years later—things were different, he was different. He liked this birthday better. There was no Big Queen Bash as Tommy had called it, but he had that handful of people.

The song ended. Felicity and Thea had their cell phones out. He locked eyes with Tommy, his daughter in his arms, and blew out the candles. He had all he ever wanted, just never knew.

The cake was cut, everyone got a piece.

Tommy smiled as he took the first bite. "Some things never change." Vanilla cake with citrus cream icing.

Oliver winked at him. "One of the constants in my life. Never failed me yet."

Tommy gave a light chuckle and squeezed his thigh under the table. It was a synonym for Tommy's scent translated into taste. But it was nothing compared to the _real_ taste of the Omega. He knew why it was one of the reasons that the Merlyn liked honey so much. Now, he just needed a warm glass of milk to wash it down.

**aRRoW**

It was late, way passed Rebecca's bedtime. Moira and Walter had already said goodnight after a round of kisses and hugs. Now it was time to do the same for the two women and pup. Oliver and Tommy stood at the threshold of Thea's room, cuddling their daughter between them.

They'd hardly been the ones holding her all night. It was honestly the longest that Tommy had ever gone. And now, for the entire night, she was going to be far from him than over before. And she was cranky, as he'd predicted, not even kisses and snuggles from her dads could make up for the missed naps. Before they were forced to finally release her, Tommy totally promised the pup that he'd feed her himself in the morning, making Oliver chuckle quietly.

They gave her to Felicity and the Alpha and Beta disappeared into the teen's room after hugs and goodnights of their own. The door closed. Rebecca would be spending the night with Thea and Felicity in some sort of slightly slumber party, while Tommy would finally spend the night with Oliver since his return.

Tommy sighed and they turned away.

"She's going to be fine," Oliver told him as they walked down the hall to his own room. "She gets you every night. But tonight, you're mine." His hand smoothed over the chest of the Omega's sweater. "You cleaned up just for me, didn't you?"

"What, you didn't like the beard and shaggy hair?" he teased.

"I told you before, didn't I?" he closed his bedroom door and turned on the light. "Elephant Man, Cave Man, it doesn't matter."

"Oh, this again?" he rolled his eyes.

"You're stuck with me." He agreed. "Now, less clothes please." He smacked the Omega's butt.

Tommy chuckled lightly and shook his head, but complied to the Alpha and stripped out of his chosen collared shirt and cardigan. "You _are_ the birthday boy."

"Yes, I am." Oliver wrapped his arms around the Omega, pressing up behind him (bare-chested himself) and running his hands through the dark chest hair. "Glad they didn't make you shave your chest hair, too, or I would of had some very choice words for my sister and our friend." It was something the Omega had that no one else he'd been with before had. Tommy was what a man was supposed to be, hairy.

"I _did_ tell them that I knew someone who definitely didn't mind the hair."

Oliver kissed his neck. "I definitely don't mind," he agreed. His hand brushed below his bellybutton and through the corser hair of his pubic trail. "These jeans? Definitely in the way." He popped the button himself, and drew down the fly, peeling the material away.

When he was done, Tommy turned to him. "So I'm practically naked, but you still have pants on. Boo. That's not fair."

"I left them on to act as a stalling barrier, but if you insist." He dropped-trou and kicked them aside. "Better?" Oliver put his hands on the Omega's hips and drew his close, pressing their pelvises together, making the firmness beneath his own boxer-briefs fairly obvious. "Silk?" he smirked, feeling the cool smoothness brush against the flesh above his boxer-band.

"Like them?" Tommy asked, arms around his neck. "Felicity picked them out."

Oliver raised a brow. "Is that like the equivalent of your mom picking it out?"

He scoffed. "Yeah, if my mom was somehow a young, nerdy, hot blond—you know what?" he frowned, "Never mind. She not my mom." He came to a screeching halt. He stepped from Oliver, "It's late. Let's just go to bed."

But the Alpha wasn't going to have it. He had things in mind for tonight. Oliver tackled him (in a none-aggressive way) onto the bed, straddling his thighs, his fingers tangled in Tommy, moving their hands up on either side of the Omega, leaning over above him. But Tommy didn't very much mind, it was called foreplay, wasn't it?

"It's my birthday, you have to do as I say."

"Oh, is that right?" Tommy's dark brow arched.

"Yeah, it's birthday rules." He whispered, "I have four-years worth of collecting to do."

He shivered and questioned breathlessly, "And what do you want?"

"I want," his voice was husky with his arousal and want, "To taste you, Tommy."

Tommy gave a shaky exhale as just the tones of it stroked his insides enticingly, making him pant a little. Tommy remembered in the tub when he'd said that exact same thing to Oliver. But he somehow thought that that wasn't going to work out the way the Alpha imagined. "Oliver, you are very welcome to try. But you know my body's not very compliant at the moment. I don't think you're going to get the result you want."

"Thanks for the open invitation, and we'll get to that later." He promised. "But that wasn't quite what I had in mind right now. You've made the offer before, and I'm making it my birthday wish."

But Tommy furrowed his brow as he looked up at the blond. He was quite honestly drawing a blank.

Oliver cocked his head. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" Tommy cringed a little in admittance and Oliver chuckled. "That's alright." He rose their hands and kissed each of Tommy's before he released them and sat back on his silk-clad thighs. Tommy leaned up on his elbows and watched the Alpha.

Oliver caressed up his ribs, before reaching his chest, his thumbs stroked the Omega's sensitive nipples. Tommy inhaled sharply at the feel of his rough pads. "Oh. Oh!" Realization came to him, as Oliver continued to stroke his nipples. "Huh." He smirked thoughtfully. "That is very, very... kinky, of you, Mr. Queen."

"So...?" Oliver watched him closely.

"Well, I mean—" Tommy started. Oliver's thumbs slowly came to a halt and his shoulders got a little stiff. "Ollie," he sat up and took the Alpha's hands in his and caressed his jaw with the other. "It's okay, really, but, Oliver, honestly. I think I'm all pumped out right now. I wasn't kidding when I said that I pumped bottles out like a cow on a dairy farm."

But he was very determined and caught on the idea. "I can be very persuasive." He swore firmly with unwavering resolve, looking him straight in his eyes.

"Then by all means," he kissed the man, "my body is yours to encourage." He fell back against the pillows, clogged by Oliver's scent. In fact, this was the first time since Oliver had been back that he'd been to the mansion, let alone the Alpha's room. Welcome home indeed!

Oliver shifted his position, so he was no longer straddling the Omega's thighs, but was instead set between him. He reached foreword and his fingertips feathered over Tommy's hips before he reached the silk waistband of his boxers. Tommy cocked a brow curiously as Oliver turned the band down just so. Oliver leaned foreword and nosed his way down the dark hair, inhaling sharply until he met the line that interrupted his pubic trail; that scar that had born their daughter. He kissed it from one end to the other, caringly, before the band was folded back to its original place.

Oliver hands rubbed up and down the man's torso as he raised his head and started to work his way upward. First, he dipped his tongue into the man's navel, then kissed and mouth his way up his hairy stomach, to his hairy chest. He claimed either of the Omega’s nipple with hand and mouth. He picked and plucked at his nipple like it was an out of tune guitar string, making Tommy want to either grind his teeth in frustration or bite his lips to keep back his gasp. Never mind the dance his was doing to his other nipple; teeth, tongue, lips.

Tommy hand reached up to the back of the Alpha's neck, scratching lightly at the sparse hair at the nape of his neck, making him groan.

It was the pheromones that Rebecca produced, that triggered the hormones in himself, that triggered the production. That, and the action of sucking that encouraged the lactation. Oliver definitely had the sucking down pat, Tommy was definitely aroused and liking it very much (it was nothing like how it felt when Rebecca breastfed). Maybe it might have if he hadn't pumped. Though he saw this whole thing as futile, he didn't try to stop the blond. It felt pleasurable otherwise.

Oliver started growling, low in his chest. It was a purely Alpha sound. Tommy's lungs stuttered for a moment, before they released. The rumbling transitioned through the Omega's stomach, where the Alpha's chest lay, and spread from there. It electrified through his pelvic scar, stimulating his arousal. He thrust up his hips, catching Oliver's clothed fully aroused cock, against his half-aroused one. Oliver ground back down against him, a moan catching in his throat and reverberating through Tommy’s peaked nipple.

The sound, the vibration, it hitched something inside of Tommy, inside of his chest. He whined as it stoppered at the base of his throat and just continued to build. Oliver didn't relent. The growl was a low stimulating constant. His hand changed its pattern though, from plucking and pinching, to gentle brushes of his thumb.

Oliver's hips pushed him into the mattress and wet warmth spread between their groins as the Alpha grunted and bit as he came from the constant thrusting. Tommy cried out, as it seemed to puncture whatever was building inside of him. His back arched lightly. His hand squeezed the nape of the Alpha's neck, his nails biting into the flesh. His other hand raked at Oliver's middle-back, careful to avoid the burn-scarring that matted his lower back above his tailbone, leaving red welts. Oliver finally stopped his Alpha growling. He melted down against the Omega, like he became boneless.

"Ngh." Tommy voiced as Oliver started to suckle. Panting.

Oliver brushed his hand up his chest, cupped his neck and jaw. Tommy looked down toward his chest, as Oliver's thumb traced his bottom lip, to see the man's blue-eyes looking up at him, his nose pressed above his nipple, his throat working slowly as he drank. Tommy parted his lips with a sigh and Oliver pushed his thumb in. Tommy sucked on it, his tongue twirling around the pad in a mirror of the Alpha, his own blue-eyes half-lidded.

Oliver finally stopped suckling, but kept his lips around his nipple a moment longer, swallowing one last time and swiping the spent peak with his tongue, before he released, taking his thumb from between the cherry lips. He wiped a hand over his mouth, then used the corner of his blanket on the bed to wipe any milk and saliva from Tommy’s dark chest hair.

He licked his lips. "I can see why our daughter spends half her day there." Oliver lifted his chin to look up at the Omega, but otherwise didn't move from his position. "Didn't I tell you?"

"Father like daughter." Tommy thumbed the corner of his mouth. "And I never should have doubted." He pulled the Alpha up for a kiss.

When they parted, Oliver rolled from the other man, shimmied from his soiled boxers, used them to clean himself, before he tossed them away. Turned off the light. Then he went right back to rolling over and draped himself over the waiting Omega.

Tommy chuckled as Oliver nuzzled his chest hair, laying his cheek against his stomach with a sigh and pulling the blanket over them. He ran his fingers through the short blond hair, pausing every so often to do little scratches that started the Alpha making little purring/content noises.

"Happy birthday..."

"To me." Oliver smiled. He slowly drifted to sleep, relaxed and safe in his Omega’s arms where he was always meant to be.

That was another thing, he thought of Tommy as his, and while that was true, it would never _truly_ be so until the Alpha marked him as such. He was forced to pass on the opportunity back in Hong Kong, there wasn’t the time, there wasn’t the safety. But he was in Starling now, no one was holding Tommy’s life over his head, he was in no one’s debt. The time would come soon, he’d make sure of it. And this time, no one was going to get in his way.

[tbc]

* * *

 

**aRRoW**

**NOTE: Hey, I totally learned a new word halfway through the chapter. "NURSERY." LOL. I know, every since I brought up the baby room, it been there, nagging and invisible, and Diggle comes in and I fucking finally remembered it. Baby's room, baby's room** — **Nursery! :) I am expanding my vocabulary. Duck, duck, goose! See?**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **P.S: So, here are some deleted/altered bits for this chapter. Whatever, I'm posting them here; it's the only way they'll see the light of day:**  
>  # ! ~  
> Oliver never thought he would get used to the spontaneous hugs, or even the planned ones. For the past near four-years, affection was not a common thing while on the island or in Hong Kong. Of course, Yao Fei had taken care of him, and he'd grown intimately close with Shado and even Slade, had connected on a familial level with the Yamashiros after they had been forced into each others company. And even being back in Starling City, where it was 'safe' and he got hugs from him mother and Speedy flew into his arms, or Tommy and Felicity would 'gang up on him'; it still made him tense, the physical contact. It made him feel vulnerable, exposed. It made him feel like he had something more to lose.  
> x  
> "So feed her, change her, nap her and we'll test these things (baby monitors) out, huh? Mush-mush," Thea clapped her hands.  
> "Yes, Master." Tommy quipped.  
> "Hey. Sexist much?"  
> "Apologies... Mistress." He retorted smartly.  
> x  
> It wasn't that long ago, that Oliver was just sitting with Rebecca bare-chested, when something very unexpected happened and Tommy was just so damn happy that he'd been there to witness it. It was exactly what drove him to get this precise gift:  
> x  
> "You're a really hot dad, you know that?" Tommy said. "Definitely way hotter than Alex O'Loughlin." He remembered the episode of Criminal Minds the actor guest starred in, "Now that's a psycho I could have hankering for."  
> "Who's Alex O'Loughlin?" Oliver asked.  
> "Oh, buddy... you really have missed so much."  
> x  
> He was so shocked and surprised, that he was sure that if he had one less ounce of self-control, he might just have thrown his daughter across the room like a cat dropping from a tree overhead onto said unsuspecting head.  
> x  
> "Rebecca, my sweet baby girl, while your father does have very nice nipples," he tried to calm her as she started to cry, but it was a little hard as he shook with barely suppressed laughter, "they don't quite function like that.  
> x  
> The breastfeeding parent, secreted a particular pheromone from their nipples, that ---  
> At the moment, though Rebecca instinctively discerned pheromones, while she knew on a visceral level that Tommy and Oliver were her parents, the alteration in their projecting pheromones towards her stated so, but because their scents were so mixed, she couldn't quite distinguish carrier from impregnator. That was why she thought Oliver's nipple was Tommy's.  
> And hopefully, this would help him channel those emotions and instinctual urges into something positive like bonding with their daughter, as opposed to let them simmer and grow into something darker.  
> x  
> He looked around and spotted the folded towels, and his robe, and shaving kit set out. Yeah, they were apparently very determined—the ultimate sign on this was the large mug of steaming hot coffee left on the sink counter. He took a big burning gulp and groaned. Felicity had put in the vanilla/honey flavoured creamer that he loved. Alright, fine. He'd comply, but only because of the coffee.  
> x  
> "What? I went over to Diggle's... that one time." He said awkwardly.  
> "Oh," She was fighting the bubbling mirth, glancing at Thea who was listening with great interest. "You mean that one time when you decided to play furniture designer, fall and was unable to get back up again? Yeah, he told be about that."  
> "That was necessary given the circumstance of the situation." He replied stoutly.  
> x  
> "You or the pup, Merlyn." Diggle told him.  
> His teeth were gritted. "Ah. Rebecca!" he said instantly.  
> Diggle left him for the nursery. Tommy listened, unable to see, anxious. Diggle never held Rebecca before, the Omega had no idea how he was with children, with babies. He knew the Alpha had nephews, his brother's children with Carly, but that still gave him no insight.  
> Her cries were heard through the door and down the hall, and through the baby monitor. He could hear the gently rumblings of the Alpha's gentle-tempered soothing and cooing. It took a little bit longer to calm the crying pup, with an unfamiliar person, scent, pheromones, and voice.  
> x  
> Moira and Robert had kept Thea's appearance from the public for a far extended period of time, very protective of the pup from a certain man, until she was well saturated in his and her own scents.  
> x  
> There was an argument amongst the three women on who would get to feed her, but Moira easily---/ When it was time to feed Rebecca, Moira somehow called first dibs. It was such a rare occasion that Tommy wasn't the feeding her.


	12. Merlyn-luck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~ _It's Father's Day and Felicity and Thea are set on watching Rebecca so the boys can go out and have their first date. But things don't go quite as planned when Alphas of a not-so distant past target the couple. ~_
> 
> **Warning/Spoilers: Violence, death,**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Wow. Okay. Sorry for the long wait in updating (again), but these things take a little time, you know? Will include some "Pilot" tidbits. Hope you enjoy.**

Tommy sat at the kitchen table in a pair of sweats and watched as Felicity worked on her computer, her fingers flying over the keyboard. "Have I ever told you how awesome your hacking skills are?" his elbow was on the table, his cheek in his palm. He grinned at her.

"You keep talking like that, and I'll forget that you're a taken man, Mr. Meryln." She smiled at him, her fingers not even hesitating on the keyboard. "He just entered the building," Felicity said. She quickly shut the program down and turned on the cam on her laptop lid, blackened the screen, and shifted it on the table so that it took in the view of the living room.

"Ollie!" Tommy called, "He's going to get here any minute!"

"I heard." Oliver came from Tommy's bedroom, Rebecca in his arms. After a successful night of sleep with Tommy at the mansion for his birthday, the Alpha had been spending most of the weeks night with the Omega in his arms, his daughter in the next room and a night not plagued by nightmares. "Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"You say that like it's a bad idea," Tommy took Rebecca. Oliver and Felicity shared a look. "I saw that," even as his attention wasn't on them, but his cooing daughter. "It'll be fine. Now places,"

Oliver rolled his eyes, but pressed a kiss to Rebecca's forehead, then Tommy's lips. "I hope you're right," and the Alpha retreated back into his room.

Tommy bounced his daughter on her feet on his thighs, looking at the outfit that Oliver had dressed her in after he'd changed her. "Cannibalism is still illegal, right?" because she looked so cute, even if it was pink. Hopefully she'd grow out of that.

She raised her dark brow at him. "You have to ask?"

"Damn," he cursed quietly. He addressed his daughter, his tone light, "It looks like you get to live another day, baby girl." She baby-babbled at him, grabbing at his face. He kissed her fingers.

Felicity laughed and shook her head. "You are so lucky that she won't retain memories until she's at least three. Because some of the things you do and say... I think she'd disown you out of pure principle."

"I still have a few more years, then." Is what he took out of the conversation. He set the pup’s bum on the edge of the table, holding her steady.

"Yeah. You better get it all out now." She mused. "Give yourself a fighting chance later in life."

"Aye-Aye!" he gave her a chummy salute, then proceeded to put Rebecca's chubby little foot in his mouth. "Num num num." She squealed in delight at the action.

"I thought we talked about the cannibalism?"

"It's not cannibalism if I don't swallow right?" he mumbled around her toes. "It's like chewing gum."

"What have I just walked in on?" Roy questioned, their target at hand, standing in the apartment doorway. He closed it and approached the pair slowly.

"Um..." Tommy straightened and wiped the saliva from around his mouth, doing the same to Rebecca’s foot with his sleeve.

"Have we finally decided to eat Rebecca before the real-world toughens her up too much?" Oliver questioned, coming out on his cue as dictated, in a tone so solemn it could be nothing but a true statement. He'd play along, just out of pure curiosity now that the Beta was actually here.

"Are you— You can't be—" Roy looked between the three of them; worried, and very unsure if they were joking or not. They were very fucked up people. "Do I need to commandeer this baby?" he asked seriously.

Tommy flashed his brows at the other two: _here we go!_ "Roy—have you seen this baby? Look at her." He held Rebecca slightly aloft at the blond. "So damn adorable, she’s edible. That's a thing; ask Felicity."

"It's true." Felicity nodded as Roy glanced at her. "I found a forum online about it. Did you know that people consume the placenta after birth? It's very nutritional. The same things happens with their young—it's just nature, Roy."

Roy was super pale and even looked a little green at what Felicity just described. Oliver and Tommy looked at her impressed at the unexpected tidbit and not a little weirded out.

"See?" Tommy looked back at Roy. "And we can always have another baby." He nodded his chin at Oliver. "We're still young and Mr. Alpha here knocked me up without even trying—"

"Enough!" Roy held up his hand.

"What—" Tommy started.

"I can't tell if you're joking or not," the red-hooded Beta admitted, "But you're freaking me out. So I'm just going to take her away until I figure it out." And Roy closed the distance between him and the Omega, took Rebecca out of his hands (who gave no fight what so ever), and backed up. Her back was against his chest, an arm under her supported her bum and thighs, his other hand over her tummy as security. He blinked as there was a flash, and he found Felicity had stood and whipped out her cell phone and was taking pictures. "What are you doing?"

"Proof, of course!" she chirped. She stopped taking pictures and sent a text with a picture attachment to Thea.

"Proof?" he asked.

"Yes," she popped the 'p' and slid her cell into her jean pocket.

He looked at all of them, then at the crown of Rebecca's head—and realization dawned. "Shit! I'm holding a baby! What's happening? Am I doing it right? Is she alright? Someone take her before I drop her!" he completely and utterly freaked-out.

Tommy stood and approached him. He squeezed his shoulders gently. "You're not going to drop her." He assured in a calm voice. "You're doing just fine. Look at her."

Roy gulped and looked back down at her. Her head was leaned back against his chest, blinking up at him curiously, her little arms reaching up and grabbing at his square chin. Her blue-pools swallowed him. "God. Okay." Damn she was cute. He tore his gaze away. "Haha. I fell for your trick to finally hold her. Well played, guys. You're probably not baby-eaters so I feel alright about leaving Rebecca in your care again—you can take her back now."

"Oh, no, no, no." Tommy backed up and held his hands up as Roy tried to give him his daughter back. "We," he indicated himself, Oliver, and Felicity, "Have to run out for a minute for a quick errand that will take no more than a minute to about thirty, maybe an hour, that will take the three of us specifically. So, we'll just leave you here with Rebe. Alright?"

And the three swooped for the door, Felicity grabbing her bag from the back of the chair.

"What?" Roy turned. "No. What do you mean? Tommy!" he shouted after them, but before he could even think about taking a step after, the apartment door was already closed. "Guys!"

The threesome quickly crossed the hall to their lovely neighbour and entered his apartment without so much as a knock or warning, closing the door behind them. Tommy and Felicity quickly took up residence on Diggle's couch, the blond pulling out her second laptop and opening it on the coffee table. She took it out of sleep mode and it instantly connected to the cam on her other laptop back in the apartment on the table like she'd programmed it to.

The feed of Roy came up on the screen, with sound too. Oliver leaned over the back of the couch to see the screen as well. Roy was still in the same spot, still stuttering.

Diggle came out of his bathroom, and faint billow of steam following him out, fresh from a his shower. A white towel was wrapped around his waist. He paused as he found three interlopers in his living room. Oliver seemed to be the only one to notice. The two Alphas met eyes, gave silent nods, before separating.

"Merlyn," the Alpha growled low, focusing on the dark-haired man, "Explain."

Tommy just waved a hand at him, focused on the screen.

It was Felicity who answered, after jolting a little at the man's unheard entrance. "Sorry for kind of, probably actually breaking into your apartment, John." She turned on the couch and finally caught sight of him and gaped a little. "Oh, hello John's chest and other nice man b—oh, my God! I'm sorry!" She slapped a hand over her face and flamed red.

Tommy snickered next to her, but he finally answered the Alpha. "We finally managed to trick Roy into holding Rebecca." He flashed a grin a Diggle. "Scripted and directed by _moi_ , of course."

"Of course," he sighed. He muttered, "Poor kid." He ran a hand over his buzz. "You've got half-an-hour, Merlyn." He turned and headed for his bedroom to get dressed.

"Thanks, Dig!" Tommy called after him and focused back on the feed.

Roy was pacing now. In a sort of panicked one-two step; looking like he might be hyperventilating.

"Are you sure he can handle this?" Oliver asked.

"He'll be fine. He's very caring and protective." Tommy waved his concern away. "You know his mom and sister were Omegas—he's very in tune with his responsive instincts. He just needs a little push..." and as if on cue from 'the director' himself, Rebecca started to snivel then cry, not liking the jolting pace, sensing the Beta’s anxiety. Tommy clapped and cheered, "That's my baby girl!"

Roy froze. " _Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God_." He uttered in pure terror, and then it was like another mask was snapped into place over his face as the Beta-care that Tommy was talking about, kicked in. Roy turned the fussy Rebecca in his arms and started to sway and rub her back. " _You're okay. Everything's okay. Shhh_ ," Tommy remember that almost exact same tone of voice when Roy had saved him from those Alphas then stayed with him the entire time to the hospital. " _Hey. Hey. That's it."_ The pup quieted, rubbing her face on Roy's shoulder. Tears, snot, slobber, the Beta didn't seem to mind. He kept up the soothing tone, " _There you go. I don't blame you. You're dad's a little crazy, but you came out alright though. Did they think that I didn't notice that they all ran out of here without shoes_?"

"Whoops!" Tommy agreed, raising his foot and wiggling his fuzzy sock clad foot. He'd found these things at a bargain in Giant Tiger, a store that he'd never been before and Felicity had taken him after he was cut off—and they were fucking amazing!

" _So I am definitely putting itching powder in his underwear drawer or something of that uncomfortable nature for thinking he could pull this on me without consequence."_ Rebecca babbled at him. " _Oh, there's no offence to you. It's a principle thing. I'll explain when you're older. But don't worry, I’ll think of something good."_ He bounced her lightly, circulating the living room as he thought.

"Wha—!" Tommy protested. "Why only me?"

Felicity patted his knee. "You wrote the script and directed this whole thing, didn't you? Oliver and I were just a couple of unpaid extras." He pouted at her.

Oliver gave his head a little shake. "I did warn you," was his implied told you so.

" _In fact, they're all pretty crazy."_ Roy said. " _Your other dad, and Aunt 'Licity."_

Felicity started to protest, but quickly gave it up. "No, he’s right."

" _But luckily for you, I'm a pretty regular guy and on account that I'm your God Uncle_ ," calling himself the God Father, though pretty funny and cool sounding, still didn't sit right with him, so he was sticking with uncle, " _So I think that evens out the weirdness."_

"Not even close, Roy." Diggle shook his head, having dressed and finally joined them, just in time to hear those last bits. "You are some kind of weird, evil, son of a bitch, Merlyn."

"Why thank you." Tommy gave a seated bow with flourish. "And I only use it for good." He might have just finished it with a cackle. Just a little bit. At least he didn't steeple his fingers.

"No," Felicity muttered, shooting a pointed look at Oliver, "He needs to get out of the apartment."

**aRRoW**

Felicity was not sitting on the couch in her pyjamas and fuzzy slippers early afternoon on a weekday, surrounded by the wonders of peanut-free chocolate and junk food marvels, binging on Retro Network when there was a knock-knock knock knock on the apartment door.

The blond rolled her eyes at the other Beta and did not even attempt to extract herself from the couch and her goods to answer it. Nor did she call him to enter. He knew they were home. He was being ridiculous. He'd been overly cautious in coming into the apartment for a few months now, announcing his presence clearly before entering.

He was acting like he'd walked in on Tommy and Oliver way too into making-out it couldn't even be categorized as such any longer, which didn't even compare to the truth. Herself, on the other hand, as being the other occupant of this apartment, felt the need to put up various sticky notes as a reminder to the couple that some zones really needed to stay clothing-adorned.

Finally, Roy opened the door like a big-boy Beta and stepped inside. This was one of the few times she'd seen him without his hoodie. But then, she'd only known him in cold weather and it was the beginning of summer now.

Roy raised a brow, surprised to see Felicity on the couch instead of at work at QC. "Are you sick?" he asked cautiously.

She blinked at him for a minute. "Sure," and turned back to the television.

Roy looked at her for a moment before he asked, "Where's Tommy? I got his text. I was just heading in for my shift." He'd managed to snag a part-time gig as a stockroom boy, which made him realize exactly how much Tommy and Felicity overpaid him for being their gofer. "Is there a problem with the—"

"He's in the nursery," she told him.

He paused. "With Rebecca?"

The corner of her mouth out of his view, turned upward. She didn't even look at him. "It's the baby's room, so I think the correct answer is... Yes."

"Is he—"

"Roy," she looked at him pointedly, and pointed down the hall just to help out that much more. "Just go."

Roy gave a little groan, but did what the woman said, passed her and went down the hall. Tommy's bedroom door was half-open, and the Beta stopped just short of being able to see into the room. He knocked pointedly on the door frame to announce his presence.

"Everyone decent?" he called. "Nobody's shirtless in there right? Or I'm questioning why you called me to come over. I like you alright, but you're still not pretty enough to make me swing the other way, Merlyn."

Tommy snorted. "Yes, Roy. Now stop stalling and get in here."

Roy toed the door open with his socked foot and slowly came into the doorway. To his relief, Tommy had a shirt on and was standing at the changing table, finishing snapping up Rebecca's one-piece.

The one time that Roy _hadn't_ knocked, he'd walked in on Tommy breastfeeding Rebecca:

It wasn't a rare occurrence. Tommy didn't go and run to his room, and shut the door like he was ashamed or something when he breastfed.

Hell, he'd sit on the couch in the living room, shirtless, watching TV with Rebe held in one arm feeding her, with Oliver's head in his lap. Tommy wasn't embarrassed about it; It was natural to his biology, it was nature, it was beautiful, it was pure. Oliver still loved to watch. In fact, Tommy probably should show _more_ discretion about it.

When Roy had walked in on him, it was a hilarious reality. There had been exclaims, loud back-throat noises, some deer-in-the-headlights action, spinning-on-heel-rapidly, and hiding-away-in-his-hood as he scrambled-from-the-room.

Tommy blinked at the empty door from where he sat in the rocking chair. He could swear he'd just seen a live-action shot of Road Runner. "Bye!" he called after the blond.

The kid couldn't even look Tommy in the eyes for a week afterward. And much to the Beta's relief, it was a moment that Felicity _hadn't_ managed to record on her cell (even if Tommy instantly blabbed about it to her when she got home from work). She was a speedster at whipping out the thing at 'important moments' or as Roy referred to them 'embarrassing'. Roy was still grouchy that she'd gotten a picture of Oliver hugging him in the gown at the hospital.

"Is it really that different than if I fed her with a bottle?" Tommy asked him when the Beta had actually been able to look at him. "It's the same milk, just in a different... receptacle."

Roy's answer was definite, "Yes." It wasn't that Roy found it disgusting. It just... he felt... _uncomfortable_ watching. It felt intimate and private, like he was intruding on something that couldn't be described with words. ~

"You texted." Roy said. "I'm still getting paid, right?"

"What? My hugs aren't good enough for you?" Tommy picked Rebecca up and held her under the armpits to the Beta.

"Um..." he looked between the Omega and the pup unsure. Was he supposed to take her, or...?

"Say hello," The brunette told him.

"Hello."

Tommy rolled his eyes, kissed the babe, and settled her down into her crib. He wiped the drool from her chin with a spit-up cloth and gave her her pacifier coloured to look like a butterfly. He'd actually just fed her—from a bottle, no less—she was showing signs of teething. The big hint: his nipple was not appreciative.

"Anyway, they're... alright." Roy scratched behind his ear, awkward and embarrassed at the admittance. He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets, why wasn't he wearing his hoodie again? "But they don't pay the bills."

"Alright." Tommy turned to him, his elbow leaning on the rail of the crib. "I'll give you the money... for a hug."

Roy stared at him for a minute before he gave his head a shake. "Felicity was right; you're an extortionist."

He flashed the younger man a grin and casual shrug. "I gotta get my Roy-fix anyway I can. Rules of the street,"

"You... should just not say stuff sometimes, you know that?" he said. "Never mind." He shook his head. "I'll take my chances on the street."

"Too late!" Tommy lunged at him, wrapping him up in his arms before the blond could react.

Roy found his face smushed in the man's chest. He sighed heavily, and stood still as Tommy cuddled him warmly. He closed his eyes for a moment. Tommy's Omega scent, at its base, was similar to all other Omegas, just as all Alphas base were similar. It reminded the Beta of his mom and his sister, of when his life hadn't been that bad, not like some he'd seen in the Glades. It was nice to know that he wasn't alone anymore.

He opened his eyes at the flash behind his eyelids and spied Felicity out the corner of his eye. "Felicity!" he grumbled. So much for sick.

She laughed. "It's for the scrapbook."

Finally, after an extra squeeze, Tommy released him. Roy shrugged and smoothed his ruffled feathers.

"Here you go, little cherub." Tommy leered, holding out his pay. "Buy yourself something nice, huh?" he winked.

Roy snatched it with a fundamental growl. "This feels disturbingly like a prostitution exchange. And I'm leaving now."

"Aw, don't be like that!" Tommy called after him, his voice catching with laughter. "Don't dirty what we have with clinical terms."

Roy shut the door on their chuckling.

Felicity and Tommy looked at each other and burst into laughter, before they shushed each other when Rebecca started to get fussy. They kissed her good-nap before leaving the nursery.

Felicity folded herself delicately back into her vacated spot on the couch, while Tommy sprawled on the other end, his head laid back.

"He's so delicate, sometimes, you know?" he murmured good-naturedly.

She snorted, popping a green Skittle into her mouth. "That's just you beating him down with your mothering-pheromones."

Tommy sighed. "What else am I supposed to do? Rebe’s turning on me," he rubbed his peck in remembrance.

"She's growing up—"

"See? Exactly! The more she grows up, the farther she's going to get. We're her whole world right now. First it's teething, then crawling, and then it's straight-up walking. And that's just the beginning, the horrible beginning..."

"—That's what babies do." She patted his shoulder. "She couldn't stay the little genie in-the-tummy forever."

"Breastfeeding was half my excuses for holding her." He pouted. "Now I'm going to have to pump more and just anyone can feed her. I'm a male spinster without a cat."

"You're twenty-seven-years-old, have a child, and Oliver Queen is in your bed nightly." Felicity pointed out. "I think the sentence you're looking for is: _I need to get out more_."

Tommy groaned, slumping back against the couch. "You're like a broken record."

"A broken record of truth."

Tommy stared at her. "When you say stuff like this, you get this look on your face that only a woman can do. And the next thing I know, you're storming into my room while I'm trying to sleep and taking all my clothes off."

Felicity smirked. "In a completely platonic way. I'm not getting bedded on a regular bases like you, so I have to have some kind of hobby."

"Did you just say 'bedded'?" he laughed.

"It's a legitimate term in this day and age."

"Yeah, in old England!"

"Shut up," and stuffed a cookie into his mouth.

**aRRoW**

Tommy should not have expected anything else, when it concerned the blond Beta. The loud crack of a party popper being trigger had him jerking up in bed groggily and confused, watching blurry colours rain down on him.

Oliver's body reacted instinctively to the loud sudden noise that could have been a gunshot for all he was aware at the moment. He took an offensive stance, crouched in front of the Omega, ready to make his move.

"Happy Fathers Da—Whoa!" Felicity exclaimed from the door, holding up her hand to block her voice as she got a flash of Oliver that made her cheeks turn hot. "Penis! That's your... oh, God!"

Tommy definitely became more alert as he Scented the threat-response pheromones warning said 'attacker'. He wrapped his hand around Oliver's ankle, shifted onto his knees, sliding his other palm up the lethal curve of the Alpha's back, and lightly squeezed the nape of his neck. "Hey, hey, hey. I'm right here." He reassured softly into his ear. "It's okay. It's just Felicity."

Oliver released a tight breath, and leaned back briefly into Tommy. "Sorry," he muttered, coming back to himself and pulling the blanket up to cover himself.

"No. No." Felicity stuttered, her eyes still covered. "Me—My—I—me fault. My fault! My fault. Sorry. That was just—wow. Big. Nope, nope, nope. I am sorry."

"So you've said." Tommy told her. "Anything else to add?"

"No, it's big enough, leave it alone!" she blurted. "Oh, God. Just stop me any time, okay?"

"I'm pretty entertained right now. What about you, Oliver?"

"No." The blond man disagreed.

"Well, just me then." Tommy noted. "You can open you're eyes now, Felicity. We're covered—mostly."

"Wow. Okay. Note to self: NEVER do that again." Felicity muttered to herself. She finally inched her hand away and opened an eye. "Okay, so... that happened."

"It's like you wanted Oliver to jump you while he's naked, Felicity." Tommy joked. "I bet that was your whole plan in bursting in here without knocking."

"I did not come in here to see Oliver's penis!" she protested—decidedly not able to meet either of their eyes.

Tommy snickered. "Oliver's penis. You just can't stop saying it, can you?"

Oliver sighed. "Thank you, Felicity. And sorry about that. Can you give us a minute? We'll be out in a sec."

"Yeah. Yep." She back away, quickly shutting the bedroom door. Luckily, Thea hadn't come running in at all her exclaiming.

Tommy burst out laughing, falling back onto the bed. "Oh, my God. That was priceless! She's seen me naked a bunch of times and never reacted like that. I think I'm a little jealous. I mean, I know I'm not as big as you, but come on."

Oliver turned to him, leaning over and turning on the bedside lamp, putting light into the dark room with its drawn curtains. "She's seen you naked?" he growled territorially.

Tommy stilled, sucking in a breath as the Alpha's growl reverberated in his blood. "A bunch of times," he said breathlessly.

Oliver pinned him to the bed with his own body, covering every bit he could. "Why?"

"It was only with nothing but platonic intentions when I was pregnant with Rebe. Why? Jealous I was going after another blond? It's not like that with Felicity. Roy, on the other hand..." Oliver growled low in his chest. "Kidding! Kidding." Tommy told him quickly. He should probably give the Beta a word of warning next he saw him.

"You're mine, Tommy." Oliver told him.

"Never said or believed otherwise."

Oliver kissed his hard and dominating. Tommy turned into liquid under his tongue, but for his partially saluted cock between them.

Fuck. The Alpha was angry at himself. He'd once had the opportunity to claim the Omega as his, the proof scarred and bared on his throat. But he'd let the 'Oliver' overrule the 'Alpha'. He couldn't do it here and now, as much as he wanted. He had to be in Rut, Knotted; Tommy had to be in Heat for the Bond to Mate them together.

He would not miss his next opportunity.

Oliver pushed his nose into the Omega's neck, Scenting deeply as Tommy moaned and bared his neck. The Alpha kissed the flesh, grazing it with his teeth. He sucked on the flesh, leaving a mark where he intended to claim the Omega soon. At least tamping down that want temporarily with marking Tommy with a visible hickey, Oliver kissed him again before he sat up.

Tommy gave a little whine as he watched the blond climb from bed. "What happened to her letting us sleep in?"

Oliver chuckled as he slipped on a pair of jeans. "It's noon, Tommy."

Tommy groaned as he sat up and dragged himself out of bed. "Doesn't feel like it." He complained, and scoured his room the his pyjamas that he went to bed in, but didn't sleep in. "We went to bed early, didn't we? Like responsible parents."

"If I remember it correctly... Yes, we did go to bed early." Oliver agreed, slipping on a long-sleeved shirt. "But we didn't get to sleep until late."

"Ah," Tommy nodded slowly, turning to the Alpha on the other side of the bed, both dressed for marginally different times of the day. "Now, if _I_ remember it correctly... my head smacked against the headboard because you pulled an unauthorized move in the dark—concussed me a little, didn't it?" he rubbed his head jokingly (there wasn't even any tenderness or a headache), "Short-term memory loss."

"Ha ha." Oliver went to him and pet his head, the dark-haired man leaning into the caress.

"Mm. I could have sworn that Felicity mentioned coffee and French toast—but that could be the concussion talking." He grinned. He could definitely smell the French toast coming from the kitchen and where there was a kitchen, there was always coffee.

"Go," Oliver told him sternly, pointing to the door.

"Yessir." Tommy gave him a quick kiss, turned on his heel smartly and pulled open the door, marching out and down the hall. Today was going to be great.

Oliver followed after him.

"My three best ladies!" Tommy greeted them in the kitchen. He swooped down on Rebecca first in the high chair. "You're number one, don't tell the others." He whispered to her, kissing her forehead. Oliver gave her the same treatment. "Did you feed her?" he asked, standing.

"And changed her and all the other things you do with babies when their dads are lazy and sleep in until the afternoon." Thea agreed, holding out two mugs of coffee to either man.

"When did you get here?" Tommy thanked her, taking the cup and that delicious first morning or afternoon sip, and sitting at the table.

"Before noon, a time that not in your vocabulary recently, I'm sure." The teen answered.

"What is... Beforenoon?" he joked.

She snorted. "Lame father jokes? Check."

"I aim to please." He looked at Felicity, who had her back turned to them, her attention perfectly excused working at the stove making, you guessed it, French toast. "Hey, Felicity," he said casually, sipping his coffee, "Still relishing that early Christmas present?"

Thea looked confused and Felicity didn't speak. "What are you talking about?"

Felicity groaned when Tommy sniggered. "She should have taken a lesson from Roy... and knocked."

It took Thea two seconds to understand; she made a face and sound that only teenage girls were capable. Tommy appeared to be the only one enjoying this, and Rebecca, who was taking her cues from her dad.

"Aw, poor Felicity!" Thea rubbed the woman's back comfortingly. "I've seen some things too that deserve a good douse of brain-bleach—but for whatever reason, from what I hear, the Health and Safety Board keep sidelining it for safety reasons. Something about putting bleach on your brain that kills you instead of erases memories. It's all very _Penn & Teller_."

"I'm not sure if I should protest or not." Oliver muttered.

"I can get your reasoning, Thea, Oliver's your brother." Tommy agreed. "But Felicity, this was God answering your secret prayers that I know you send off at night before you go to bed."

"When will you give this up?" Felicity grouched, transferring the rest of the French toast from the pan onto the plate.

"When you stop turning hot and bothered," he quipped. "Which I know will be never!"

"Fine." Felicity rose her chin (definitely pink) and turned to them, putting the stacked plate at the center of the set table. "You can either never mention this again, or not get the gift I got you and Oliver."

Tommy made a noise of protest. "Felicity!" he whined, biting his lip, trying to decide. "How am I just going to _not_ say it?"

"Fine." She gave a long suffering sigh. "Five special occasion where you get to mention it/remind me of it, but that's it." She held up five fingers to emphasize. "I'm keeping count. It you bring it up over five times—I retaliate." She laid out the rules.

Tommy paused at that last bit, his head cocked and a light shinning in his blue-eyes. "And how exactly will you _retaliate_ , Ms. Smoak?" he asked suggestively, his brows wiggling.

Felicity smacked his shoulder and he chuckled. "I will not show you my version of Oliver's penis, Tommy!"

Tommy chocked with laughter into his coffee. He set his cup down and wiped a hand across his chin. He felt like he won every times she said _Oliver's penis_.

"Can you please not say that?" both Queens piped up.

Felicity and Tommy both looked at them: "Damn that was cute!" they got two Queen raspberries for their consideration.

The Beta and Omega instantly retook the conversation.

" _Deal or No Deal_?" she cocked a dark brow at him, hands on her hips.

"Deal." He agreed.

They actually shook on it, sealing the terms. They spoke of it no longer, sat at the table, and ate Felicity's yummy French toast.

Finally, they cleared the table.

"Alright," Tommy clapped his hands. "Where's this gift that you were extorting over my head, and going to deny poor innocent Ollie?" he asked the blond.

Felicity rolled her eyes, but went into the living room and came back hauling a heavy wrapped rectangle in her arms, setting it on the table.

Tommy unwrapped it and Oliver smoothed his hand over the album’s glossy cover and Felicity's neat calligraphy.

"Wow, that's thick." Tommy noted.

"You don't know the half of it," she said. "Literally. This is only half of them. With as many pictures and videos as I've been taking, I have got my gift-giving for you two covered for the rest of our lives."

Tommy opened the cover. There were two pictures on the first page. One from when he had been released from the hospital after Rebecca, that had a group picture of him, Oliver, Rebe, Felicity, Thea, and Roy. And the one under it was the inclusion of Moira and Walter from Oliver's birthday, feeding Rebecca in the window seat.

They flipped through a few more pictures, and these were ones taken before Oliver had returned to Starling City. Back when Tommy was actually pregnant with Rebecca. This was a part of his daughter's life that he had missed. But now he got to see it through the eyes of Felicity's cell phone. There were even some of when Tommy was in the hospital after his attack at the bus stop, and Oliver finally got to see some of the damaged that everyone refused to go into detail about. His chest tightened and anger ground his teeth. Roy had been their to save him, instead of the Alpha like he should have been.

Tommy squeezed his arm and closed the album.

"Thank you, Felicity." Oliver murmured gruffly. She nodded.

"Okay." Thea piped up. "Close your eyes." She told Tommy.

"Alright." He sighed, but did as he was told. "Why just me?" he wondered aloud.

"Because I said so," the Alpha teen put it so eloquently, before she scampered from the kitchen.

"Well, I can't argue with that."

Oliver chuckled quietly as she returned, set something on the table in front of him, and commanded him to open his eyes. Tommy did and stared at the her Father's Day gift.

"Wow. I've gotten flowers before, but never a full-blown plant." Tommy remarked, turning the clay pot slowly and examining it. It wasn't a fern or a cactus.

"Who's given you flowers?" Felicity wondered.

He spared her a glance. "Women. Women have given me flowers before."

"What women?"

He looked at her seriously. "You expect me to remember their names?"

"Wow." Felicity gaped at him. "Asshole."

He grinned. "I'm a one asshole kind of guy," he agreed, giving Oliver a wink.

"Lalalalala!" Thea covered her ears.

"What is it?" he asked the teen when she finally stopped.

Thea absolutely sparkled at him. "It's called Baby's Breath."

He gasped delicately and stared at the plant with its little sprays of tiny pink flowers coming off the branching stems. "Really?"

"Mm-hm." She nodded, biting her lip. "Do you like it?"

"Do you even have to ask?" he gaped. "It's beautiful, Thea. Thank you," he stood and pulled her into a hug, kissing her cheek.

She chuckled, returning the hug. "I hoped you would."

"I do."

It wasn't long after that, that Oliver and Thea had to leave; to visit Robert and have 'tea time' with Moira and Walter; but would return later that night. Oliver was taking him on a hot date, after all.

**aRRoW**

It was nearing eight o'clock and Oliver and Thea's return; and he was dressed to the near-nines.

When Felicity had walked into his room after his shower and tried to pick out his outfit again like she and Thea had done for Oliver's birthday; he'd grabbed her shoulders, turned her around, and steered her right out into the hall and closed his door. Contrary to what she theorized about his former billionaire playboy lifestyle, and what he joked: he'd been dressing himself since he was five. He knew what he was doing.

He was wearing solid black coloured socks; he couldn’t remember a time when they weren't fuzzy like a shag carpet, dotted, stripped or multicoloured. His shoes were shiny. Hie wore slacks and a belt, and creases. A long-sleeve button-up with cuffs and a collar. A vest. And he broke out his leather jacket. He was clean shaven, and his hair was styled.

He looked good and felt confident. Almost like his old-self, back in the day before he was cut-off—except this time around, he was happy. He had Oliver and Rebe. Felicity, Thea, Roy, Moira and Walter. Even Diggle. He had a real family. This was what it was like.

Father's Day. Robert was a father. Walter was. He and Oliver were. Malcolm had stopped being his father when he abandoned Tommy for two-years and came back cruel and manipulative. So Tommy ignored the small package that he had intercepted at the door while Felicity was in the bathroom:

It had his name and address only, with no return-address, but he recognized the handwriting instantly. Malcolm. He hadn't heard from or seen his father since the encounter at his hospital discharge. He quickly took it to his room and shut the door. He stared at the wrapped package for a long time. It was the size of a small notebook and about as thick.

Tommy knew he should just throw it out. He didn't want anything from Malcolm. He didn't want anything in their apartment, his home, near Rebecca, that that man had touched. But he couldn't stop the curiosity of what Malcolm thought he could send him, today of all days, that would mend things between him. If whatever it was, was supposed to be cruel or of love.

Taking a deep breath, he tore away the wrap and found a velvet box underneath. Opening it carefully, he stared at the revealed contents.

Unlike what Roy snarked at him (with love, of course), he was _not_ born with a silver spoon up his ass. It was simply forged by outside means in concurrence of his birth.

In the box, were two such silver spoons. One was his own, with his name and birthday inscribed into the shallow ladle. The second, was Rebecca Meghan's.

He stared at them, angry and a little confused. What was the true meaning behind it? Was Malcolm trying to say that with the simple act of depraving himself and crawling back to the Alpha, Rebecca would have all that Malcolm denied him? All that he had sworn in that hospital room?

It was never about the money.

But even so, the joke was on the Alpha. Tommy might not be the son of a billionaire any longer, but Oliver definitely was. Rebecca wouldn't need for a single thing in her life.

Tommy scoffed at the spoons, snapping the hinged lid closed sharply. He buried it in his underwear drawer. He'd deal with them later. He pushed Malcolm from his mind, and the unease at the reminder that the Alpha had never really gone away just because he put himself in this little bubble.

Right now, he had to get ready for a hot date. ~

Thea let out a wolf whistle when she and Oliver finally returned, upon seeing Tommy come down the hall.

"No way," Tommy shook his head, staring at Oliver. "Direct that at your brother. Da-amn!" Oliver was donning a pair of dark trousers that were damn fitting, a collared shirt, with dark green gridded sweater under his light jacket.

They kissed each other in greeting. "Felicity dress you again?" Oliver gave a low chuckle, giving him the once—maybe twice—over.

Tommy made an indignant sound. "That was one time!" Felicity pointedly cleared her throat from where she held Rebecca next to Thea. He shot her a glance. "Not one time," he corrected. He cleared his throat, "It still stands. I dressed myself, I'm a grown man. I was not born with a silver spoon up my ass," he growled, "or have body servants that dressed or undressed me." Rebecca fussed at her dad's raised voice.

"Okay, okay. We get it." Thea agreed. "You know how to dress yourself. Take the compliment I gave you, dude."

He let out a breath. "Sorry. Sorry, baby girl." He turned to Felicity, and soothed his daughter in her arms, but did not take her. "You're daddies will see you in the morning." He leaned down and gave her kisses.

Oliver took his turn with Rebecca and Tommy gave Thea a hug in greeting and departure. She'd brought an overnight bag herself and was staying the night at the apartment. He and Oliver would have the mansion to themselves; Moira had taken Walter away on a weekend trip. Tommy had fed Rebecca from the source before he'd showered and dressed, and had bottles pumped out that would last her until tomorrow afternoon.

They said farewell and made for the elevator.

"I think I'll apologize in advance," Oliver told him on the way down, an arm around his waist.

Tommy looked at him with a furrowed brow. "What?"

Oliver leaned close and nuzzled his ear. "Your clothes. You gave yourself a hot packaging, but it just makes me want to tear them off and get to what's underneath." He nibbled his earlobe. "So, I'm apologizing in advance for ruining your clothes."

Tommy's eyes sparkled as he glanced at him as the elevator reached the small lobby. "I, on the other hand, will not apologize." He winked and swaggered from the elevator and out the door.

A low rumbled sounded in the Alpha's chest and he stalked after the Omega, the anticipation already mounting before they even made it to the restaurant. He had a town car waiting outside, the same that he and Thea had arrived in ten minutes earlier. He and Tommy got in the backseat.

"Hey, Merlyn." A deep voice said from the driver's seat.

Tommy looked up from clipping his seatbelt in, and made a sound of surprise as he first registered the familiar Alpha's pheromones, and then the man himself through the briefly lighted exterior of the car in the rear-view mirror. "Diggle? What—?"

"Apparently he made quite the impression on mom." Oliver explained as Diggle pulled from the apartment driveway and into the street. "He's on the Queen payroll now."

"Huh." Tommy sat back in his seat. "It pays to know people."

"Yeah, Merlyn." Diggle intoned as he drove, "I integrated myself slowly into your life—first in association with Carly at the BBG and then as your neighbour. All in the hopes that your boyfriend would miraculously come back from the dead and I'd hit it off with his mother ~ All to get this job." He paused. "You caught me."

Oliver looked across at the other Alpha, quietly amused. He always enjoyed Diggle's dry humour.

Tommy laughed and grinned. "I knew you loved me!" he crowed. "Oh, John!" he simpered and leaned forward in his seat to the extent of his seatbelt as the man stopped in traffic at a red-light, and hugged the Alpha from behind in the driver's seat. He stated dramatically, "What are we going to tell Carly?"

Double growls emitted within the vehicle from either Alpha, though both held very different meanings. Tommy sat back and eyed either Alpha with a raised brow. Diggle pulled through the intersection at the green.

"Ugh." He made a face at them. "Just for that, Johnny Teddybear... Imma hug you all the time. Watch out."

"No, man." Diggle told him.

"Yeah." And then he totally ignored the Alpha's glower through the rearview mirror and turned to his chosen blond in the seat next to him. "And you... was that a territorial growl?" he couldn't help it if it came out a little gleeful. He couldn't help it if the Omega part of him was deathly turned on when Oliver went all Alpha.

Oliver stared back at him with an absolute expression.

"Fuck," Tommy muttered and would have flung himself across onto the Alpha if John hadn’t pulled to the curb and said: "We're here."

"Thank you, Diggle." Oliver nodded to the man and got out.

Tommy nodded to him and got out, going around to the curb and walking into the restaurant next to Oliver. Oliver didn't even have to say his name for their reservation. He was instantly recognized. Their jackets checked-in and lead to their table at a more private section of the floor.

As they were being seated, Tommy glimpsed a familiar pair getting their jackets over Oliver's shoulder. He glanced away to take the menu handed to him by the waiter, and when he looked back up, they were gone. He guessed that it had been luck that they had just missed each other instead of running into each other.

He hadn't seen Det. Lance since his attack at the bus stop had him in the hospital for a month. And he hadn’t seen Laurel since her one visit to him and Rebecca Meghan after the pup had been born, that turned awkward fast with their complicated past and an open can of old worms when Oliver had walked in on them. The Lances were probably the last people either he or Oliver wanted to see. They hated the blond's guts (with reason. i.e. an Alpha named Sara); and Tommy was worried about Laurel's (and even Quentin's) reaction that Rebe was Oliver's, too.

The waiter voiced the specials of the night. They took a moment of looking through the menu to decide. Oliver didn't even have to see the wine list, and got a bottle. The waiter collected their menus and disappeared off to the kitchen to place their order.

Tommy scooted forward in his chair as they waited for their meal. "Oliver Queen taking me out on a date," he mused. "This feels surreal."

Oliver raised a brow across at him. "More surreal than carrying my child?"

"Fuck, Ollie," he murmured, a little breathless, "When you say shit like that..." Oliver gave him a devilish smirk. Tommy shook his head and went back on topic, "And yes, getting pregnant is easy. But the infamous Ollie Queen Date? I know how they ended, but I always wondered about the pre-bed-rocking ritual."

"You're not just a one-night stand girl that I'm going to end up running into again even if I don't want to." Oliver reached across the table and put his hand over the Omega's. "You're the man that I love, Tommy. You brought me home. You're not one-night stand material—you're forever material."

Tommy literally stared at the blond for a minute as they were served, with his mouth hanging open—it definitely wasn't his sexiest moment. But it needn't to be done. Wow. Just... Holy fuck. No one ever said shit like that to him and meant it.

Oliver simply waited for Tommy to process and just watched the Omega. He squeezed his hand, a small, genuine smile on his lips.

Tommy finally cleared his throat and took a second to pick his jaw up. "Okay. Alright." He straightened the nonexistent wrinkles from his vest. "You can take me on a date later, but not right now, because you need to fuck me—like right now." He swallowed his entire wine glass in a gulp and started to stand.

"Tommy, sit down. Sit down." Oliver laughed, and pulled on his hand, making the Omega sit.

"I'm serious, Oliver." Tommy told him acutely.

"So am I, Tommy." He responded back just the same.

Tommy stared back at him for a moment before he gave a heavy exhale. "Alright." Then he gave the Alpha a determined look, "But I'm getting sex at the end of the night." It was true that they had been intimate, the first time being in the tub, and they'd done a lot since then, but none of it had included sex-sex with glorious penetration because of Tommy's persistent post-pregnancy hormones.

Oliver raised his hands as if in surrender like it was a hard thing done. "You're hearing no protest from me."

"So stop stalling," the Omega told him, "And eat."

Oliver chuckled and shook his head, but picked up his fork and knife—as he said, there would be no protest from him.

x—x

"I texted Dig." Oliver slipped his phone back into his jacket as they stepped from the restaurant and into the street. It was a little after nine, the sky was dark, the streetlights on, and it appeared to have rained shortly while they were inside the restaurant. "He says there's construction so he had to park a couple blocks away." He put an arm around the Omega's shoulder and steer him right-ways down the damp sidewalk.

Tommy glanced at him. "And we're going to him?" he amused, "What are you paying him for again?"

Oliver chuckled. "What? You don't want to walk with me?"

The dark-haired man just shrugged casually. "It'll just be that much longer until you can tear away this packaging like you promised in the elevator at the start of this night."

"I did say that, didn't I?" he picked up the pace jokingly until they hit a stop sign crossing and had to pause for a couple cars to go through the intersection before crossing.

"Is it just the wine talking or have you gotten funnier?" Tommy wondered. The wine part was a semi-genuine wonderment. He'd hadn't had a drink since Hong Kong, that was fifteen months without any alcohol. The longest he'd ever gone since he was fifteen. He couldn't while pregnant and it was absolutely not recommended for the breastfeeding partner. So whatever tolerability he'd built up since being a teenager that allowed him to drink more before becoming drunk, was absolutely diminished and he was sure he was a total light-weight now.

"Ha ha. And I must be stone-cold sober, because you are not funny at all."

"Damn." Tommy pouted. He pulled Oliver's arm from around his shoulder and twinned their fingers, turning around and walking backwards in front of the man, linked through their arms. "And here I thought it was my most attractive feature."

Oliver gave his hand a little tug and pulled the Omega to a stop in front of an alleyway, Diggle just parked down the street. "Everything about you is your most attractive feature," he corrected.

Still holding his hand, Tommy closed the one-step distance between them, and kissed the Alpha, an arm wrapped around his waist, pulling him close.

The little hairs on the back of Tommy's neck rose in a moments warning, despite his jacket's collar. Oliver's did, too. But it was the Omega that recognized the sour musk, three Alpha scents so twisted together, you could hardly distinguish one from another, not that one wanted to Scent long enough to discover the individual curdled scents.

Oliver instantly wound and was in the motion of turning and pushing Tommy away when something flashed in the streetlight and cracked him on the head behind his ear, splintering and sending him to the ground.

"Oliver!" Tommy shouted and went to lunge forward, but was grabbed from behind. He struggled briefly in the Alpha attackers hold, as the two other Alpha's grabbed the blond's limp body and dragged him into the shadows of the alley, away from the street and any potential witness or outside help.

The Omega saw them briefly in the light. Though they had changed somewhat since their stint in prison (and how the fuck were they out right now?!), he recognized them easily. Beanie wasn't wearing a beanie, but had a shaved head. Sole-patch was donning a full beard this time around.

As Oliver disappeared from his sight, his panic was overtaken by instinct. He wasn't pregnant with Rebecca anymore, but it wasn't like he was in great fighting form either. But Roy, with assistance from Diggle, had given him, Felicity, and Thea some defensive moves.

Tommy threw his head back. A disadvantage of grapping someone behind. There was a satisfying crunch of cartilage and grunt of pain as Tommy smashed pierced-lip's nose. He stomped the Alpha's foot, though it hardly did a thing; the Omega was wearing dress shoes and he had on boots. But he threw back an elbow into his ribs at the marginally loosened hold and managed to break free.

The dark-haired man only paused enough to regain his balance from the release before he was turning and swung a right-hook, threw his weight behind it with a grunt of effort. Pierced-lip (who didn't so much have a lip piercing any more, but a scar from his lip and down his chin), expecting as much, was already raising his arms to block the swing. The impact, while still bruising, left Tommy open and pierced-lip took advantage.

The thug kicked with his heavy boot, hitting the side of Tommy's knee, causing the Omega's leg to give out and sending him to a knee on the wet pavement at the alley mouth. The Alpha tackled him, and started to pummel. Tommy put his arms up, trying to block. But he only had two arms and he had to decide what was more vital; his head or his torso. He knew that he could not become unconscious, no matter what, not when his life and Oliver's would be over if he did.

He flashed back to seven months ago when they first attacked him. It was three against one, and they had rained all hell of fist and foot on his helpless form. But he didn't have to worry about Rebecca Meghan now; she was safe at home in the apartment with Felicity and Thea, Roy a phone call away, the door locked. This time, at the moment, it was one-against-one. This time, it was Oliver that he needed to protect. That blow to the head the blond Alpha had received had been vicious, though it had only been a few minutes, that was far too long in the Omega's opinion for Oliver to be alone with the other two thugs.

He needed to stop defending and lash out of the offensive. Roy was not going to happen across him by a pure act of God giving the Beta a Big Belly Buster Single, not this time around. Diggle was so close, yet the dark-skinned man might as well be halfway across the world right now.

_He_ was on his own.

So he struck out. Their knuckles grazed, their elbows scraped. He bucked and kicked under the Alpha, landing blows of his own, trying to throw the shorter man from him. Somehow, Tommy had managed to get a leg between their bodies with all his writhing, and he flexed and released. The Alpha's pelvis received and absorbed the shock and it was almost like he sprang from the other man like an empty mousetrap released.

He thudded against the corner of the dumpster at the side mouth of the alley, his shout cut off as he slowly slid down it and slumped to the ground.

It felt like Tommy was moving through molasses as he climbed to his knees. All he could hear was his own breathing, the adrenaline in his ears, his heartbeat as he stared at the still thug against the dumpster. He didn't know if he'd killed the Alpha, if he was even still breathing. All he knew, was that he wasn't coming after him again at this moment in time.

It felt like all the blood had pumped from his chest and into his head, making him feel light-headed. His ears buzzed. It felt as if the earth trembled with each beat of his heart. The cold, wet pavement hard on his knees as he watch the black sheen on the side of the dumpster from the streetlight slowly spread downward from the top corner, like it was threatening to spill across pierced-lip. Like slick oil...

The air was thick with pheromones and blood. It clogged his nose and mouth. His own. Pierced-lip's... Oliver's...

He could hear the smack and grunts of impact of flesh-on-flesh. The animalistic growls, the guttural noises of a physical effort and pain. A sight lost in the shadow at the end of the alley.

"Oliver!" the Omega surged to his feet in a second round of adrenaline. Lurched forward on his injured knee. But came to a frozen halt suddenly at the edge of the gloom as sudden silence overtook the dead-end. He couldn't hear anything over his own harsh breathing. He couldn't lose Oliver, not after just getting the Alpha back! Not after—

A large dark form loomed up in the gloom and Tommy's breath hitched. His heart skipped a beat as he realized that it hadn't been only _him_ breathing, but the shadowed Alpha. He didn't make a sound as Oliver stepped into the lighted dimness.

Blood coated the side of Oliver's head, behind his ear and down his neck. His chest was heaving, from the fight, the adrenaline, the emotion. But outwardly, there seemed no other injuries.

Alpha and Omega looked gazes. Oliver's pheromones were off the charts, powerful and overwhelming. They wiped all other scents that had been unhappily clogging Tommy's nose and throat. Honey and black pepper—and something deeper, that called out to that deep empty ache inside the Omega. Hormones flooded him, and his own vanilla, citrus, and Maplewood scent responded.

A low growl emitted from the Alpha and Oliver was suddenly surging forward, pushing Tommy against the brick wall—and started to rub against him, scent-marking him. Filling the Omega's pores with his own unique Alpha musk to oppose the other three who's owners lay scattered in the alley in different states but ultimately the same fate.

The bloodlust, a response to the Omega's pheromones, the reaction against the challenge of other Alphas—it triggered the ultimate instinct in the blond Alpha. That itch that had been scratching at the back of his hindbrain since he denied the presented opportunity to claim the Omega. Something that had become greater since he returned—had the Omega in his arms, found his pup.

He was driven into a impromptu Rut. And it had triggered the resulting Heat by-product in Tommy. It unfroze his post-pregnancy hormones that locked his Heat from further action until his pup reached a certain age. The slight pressure that had started to build in his chest in the restaurant since feeding Rebecca Meghan vanished.

Oliver rumbled in his chest, the sound going through Tommy's. The dark-haired man made a mewling sound, heat pooled in his neck. He responded willingly to the Mating call of his chosen Alpha.

Tommy bared his neck, cocking his head to the side. Oliver's lips peeled back from his teeth. He nuzzled the side of the man's neck, Scenting the Omega's bonding gland—and he bit. The Omega gave a small cry as the Alpha's teeth broke through the flesh.

The Omega's blood soaked through the cracks of his teeth, his mouth flooded with saliva. Oliver unlocked his jaw and slowly licked the bloody wound. In response to the claiming, he started to produce analgesic saliva, a natural pain-reliever.

Tommy sighed, his eyes closed, his fingers gripping the nape of the Alpha's neck as the blond nuzzled and licked his own. It was like what being Knotted with Oliver had simulated, but this would last more than an hour or two. It would last forever. That empty ache inside of his was gone. Filled with _awareness_ of Oliver that had only been a glimmer before, but was a shine now.

The scene around him was forgotten in this moment as he purred quietly, held in Oliver's arms. The fear that had possessed him. The brutality of the attack. The tenderness in his torso, the pain in his leg, the ache of his face. Finally, that invisible barrier that existed between them since Hong Kong and the refusal of the bite, was gone.

Oliver's head snapped around as he Scented another Alpha's pheromones. It was a new one from the three that clogged the alley, a familiar one to the blond—but right now, instinct was all with the blond just bonded with his Omega.

x—x

Diggle paused at the mouth of the alley, staring at the still body slumped against the dumpster. In the luminescence of the overhead streetlamp, he saw the darkness that ran down the green of the dumpster. He instantly knew it was blood.

He'd been waiting in the car. The couple should have taken no less than ten-minutes to make it to the parked vehicle. But just shy of said-ten minutes, Diggle had gotten that itch between his shoulder blades. Something had put his Alpha side on alert.

He wound his window completely down. It had briefly showered as he waited, listening to the radio and reading the newspaper, but had stopped shortly after. He turned his head to the opening and carefully Scented. He sorted through the natural smell of rain and wet pavement, the faint stench of garbage for where he'd been forced to park—and he straightened in his seat.

The stench of Alpha was thick. Alpha _aggression_ , from more than one. A small pack. He slowly climbed from the town car and faced the direction he knew it was coming from. While this area was upper-town, that didn't mean it didn't see its own fair share of white-collar crimes, of muggings.

He took out his cell phone and texted Oliver, but he didn't get a reply back. He started to walk toward the restaurant. Either the couple paused to have a make-out session, or something bad had happened. Diggle knew it was the latter as the heavy stink of blood briefly eclipsed his sense of smell and he came upon the body at the mouth of the alley.

He instantly drew his sidearm from his hip holster and turned his sharp gaze inwards of the alley. He could smell the blood, he Scented the mixture of pheromones from several unknown Alphas, but with it, the familiar Omega scent punctuated the air prominently. Tommy. And there... Oliver.

He slowly started to advanced into the lane, keeping all his senses peeled and alert, constantly Scenting, searching out any movement, on his toes. He'd just passed the first dumpster with the Alpha slumped still against it, before he froze in place.

He Scented the change in the animated pheromones. While he liked the Omega well enough and the man's scent was pleasant (acorns and oak leaves), he wasn't attracted to the man (or men for that matter). Contrary to what people said, Alphas did not live Knot-crazed at every single Omega they encountered.

He fast recognized the change in Tommy's floating scent that put a faint Heat in his belly, only to be countered with goosebumps and raised hackles at Oliver's sharp and dominant musk.

He took a moment to analyze them briefly. He'd learned to use his Alpha attributes for what they were in the army. And advantage for him. To have heightened senses. To be able to analyze an opponent’s emotions, predict their next move, to identify team-mate from enemy. Of course there were suppressants and scent blockers and neutralizers. It was classic strategy in the field. Omega got Heat-suppressing shots. Alpha's took Rut suppressants. But just like any kind of contraceptive, nothing was 100% effective.

Alphas, no matter the attraction to the Omega, always reacted on an instinctual level, be it minute or monumental. An Alpha's Rut, on the other hand, was never a pleasant scent for other Alphas. The deep musk served to warn, antagonize, and set a challenge to other Alphas near—it did not entice like the warm, sweet scent of an Omega's pre/present/post-Heat pheromones (though of course an Alpha's Rut was the same kind of siren call to the Omega).

He'd only started forward a few more seconds, before a warning growl emitted from in front of him and Oliver, in an aggressive stance, stepped out from the gloom. He spotted Tommy half-behind the blond Alpha. Oliver Scented the dark-skinned man, assessing this threat level. "Hey, hey." Diggle's movements were slow and deliberate. The last thing he wanted right now was to get into a brawl with the Alpha in a state that could be coined Rut-adjacent. He slipped his Glock carefully back into his holsters, and went into a submissive posture. "It's Diggle, Oliver. I'm not going to hurt you or Tommy. I'm your friend. Come on, man. Come back to the world."

A rumbling growl was the response he got from the blond. Shit. Apparently baring his neck and leaving himself vulnerable wasn't submissive enough for the rich bastard. This was not a typical protective response, it was too instinctual. It felt more like the protective response of an Alpha with his bonded-Mate.

So Diggle lowered himself. Both were in a primal state. Brought on by an active level attack. He needed to bring them back before anyone further got injured. Any dynamic in this state was just like a cornered animal acting on pure instinct. Right now, their forebrain was shut down, the 'intellectual, human' part of the brain was out of service at the moment. He knew the reason that Oliver wasn't on him already was because on some level the Alpha had recognized his familiar scent and didn't deem him an active threat, of course Diggle on the ground in front of him in deference was a point in his favour as well.

Oliver's aggressive pheromones were keeping Tommy in his current Omega temperament. It was blocking out their attackers' scents, the smell of blood—it was also attempting to shield out Diggle's pheromones. But though Diggle may be lowered in submission, he manipulated his pheromones so they stated his yielding state, but projected them heavily towards the couple ( _friendly, comforting, friendly)_ in the hope that it might penetrate one’s senses or the other’s.

Oliver shifted his stance and Diggle tensed. The ex-soldier would not reach for his gun if the blond Alpha came at him, but he wouldn't lay himself defenceless. If he lowered himself any further, there'd be no chance for him. Oliver sensed the change and his lip curled back a snarl ready to rip from his throat—when Tommy's palm suddenly pressed against the nape of his neck, his fingers pushed into the blond hair at the nape of his neck, his nails scraping gently upward against his scalp.

Diggle watched as Oliver's head fell back into it, and it was like the sprung wire twisted around his bones suddenly left, and his whole body slumped into the movement of Tommy's fingers.

Tommy sounded an (Omega) purring approval at his Alpha and Oliver responded with a gentle rumbling.

Before the Alpha was blinking and straightening, his brow was furrowed slightly as his eyes darted around in quick assessment of the alley, panting a little. Tommy’s hand dropped from his nape.

Diggle let out a heavily relieved breath as he recognized the 'consciousness' back in the blond's blue-eyes. "Thank God, man. You back?"

"Diggle?" he uttered and stared at the other Alpha down in a submission posture. "Wha—" he stopped and took a step forward, stretching out his hand to the man.

Diggle clasped his arm and was pulled to his feet. "You good, man?" he asked, straightening his jacket. "You went Alpha-primal on me."

"Tommy." He realized.

"I'm here, Ollie." Tommy's hand was on his arm and he stepped out from behind the Alpha.

Diggle's suspicions on the matter were proven correct when he finally caught a good view of Tommy from out behind the Alpha—and the claiming-bite that marked his neck.

A Spontaneous Bonding. He'd seen it before, in combat situations during his tour in Afghanistan. Where unsanctioned bonds were formed in the unstable, unpredictable combat zone. The stress triggered a hindbrain response, the body flooded with hormones, produced Mating pheromones; it triggered a similar response in another (usually someone close to them personally). The bonding-gland was triggered, the bite exchanged, the bond complete. It had nothing to do with the physical bond (like Knotting with and Omega in Heat), but the intimacy of the connection, of the 'soul-bond'.

Oliver turned to him in relief, but then he tensed at the sight of the man. His nose was bloody, his bottom lip was busted, there was already the swelling of a black eye, a cut and surrounding bruise on his cheek. He cupped the man's face tenderly. "I said I wouldn’t let anything happen to you."

"I'm alright." He whispered, leaning into the touched, his hand, knuckles bruised, overlapped his. "And you protected me. Those other two—" There was a micro-change in Oliver's expression that had Tommy pausing.

Oliver gave his head a little shake. "That wasn't me."

Tommy stared back, his expression still. Oliver was obviously trying to tell him something, or asking him not to say something—without actually saying something with his neighbour standing a few feet away.

"What are you talking about, Oliver?" Diggle questioned. He couldn't Scent another Alpha, with the scents in the alley were a little stirred and shaken. Maybe it had been a Beta? He pulled out his cell phone and dialled. "I'm calling the police." He put it to his ear and spoke briefly before hanging up. "They'll be here in a few minutes with a squad car, coroner's van, and ambulance to make sure your guys are alright." He reported. "You said there were two others?" he asked Tommy.

Tommy bit the inside of his cheek as he nodded his head towards the backend of the alley. He grimaced a little; his cheek was as tender on the inside as much as it hurt on the outside. Diggle nodded and went around the pair, taking out a pocket-light and flicking it on as he stepped into the dark. Oliver didn't turn his gaze from the Omega (making sure Tommy stayed with him, didn't turn his gaze to try and look), his shoulders tense; he knew what was back there.

Diggle uttered a curse, turning off the pocket-light and quickly turning back to the pair. "That's brutal. Made a right call on the coroner's van. Man, Oliver..." he shook his head.

"They hit me over the head pretty hard, Diggle." Oliver turned his head and looked at the other Alpha. "I blacked out while they were still dragging me. I told you there was someone else. When I woke up, they were dead. When I went to find Tommy, I..." he looked back at Tommy, at the gunky, gory bitemark on his neck.

Diggle put the question of a disappearing third-party on the back-burner for the moment, and focused on the mention of the bite. "It's a called a Spontaneous Bonding. It's brought on by extreme aftermath stress with an unbonded pair, where you go into a temporary Rut/Heat collective and the bond is initiated and secured."

"You're okay... with this?" Oliver whispered, his thumb brushing at the base of Tommy throat, the bitemark at the upper part of the curve where shoulder met neck, his forehead leaned gently with the Omega's.

"Yeah." Tommy said, just as quiet. Oliver carefully kissed the corner of his mouth on the uninjured side. "More than okay."

"Where did these guys come from?" Diggle asked. "Did they try to mug you?"

"This was an attack." Oliver answered. "They wanted to kill us. They said nothing, demanded nothing. Just attacked."

"You sure they didn't know that you were Oliver Queen?"

"If they did, it obviously held no value to them. I don't know who they were or why they targeted us."

"I do." Tommy said bitterly. Both Alphas looked at him in surprise. "These are the same bastards that attacked me at the bus stop when I was still pregnant with Rebe."

"What?" Oliver growled.

"The same scumbags?" Diggle shook his head in confusion. "How did they get out of prison?"

Tommy scoffed. "I was wondering the same thing."

"They won't hurt you anymore, they can't." Oliver told him fiercely. He'd been unable to protect Tommy and Rebecca Meghan from that first attack, but this time he'd been here, he was able to help stop them. They wouldn't hurt his Omega again, or his daughter. They could do nothing now but burn in hell for ever thinking they could touch Tommy again, or the first time. Tommy nodded as Oliver hugged him.

A squad car finally arrived, the ambulance close behind. The three stepped from the alley as it was taped off and the officers took a walk-through.

After talking briefly with an officer, the Alpha and Omega were encouraged by the EMT partners into the back of the truck to be checked over, a Beta taking either man as Diggle spoke with the police officer's for a moment.

There was a bump, and a laceration on said bump which the EMT cleaned and determined was luckily free of debris of whatever had struck Oliver; a bandage was taped over it. A flashlight was shone in his eyes. "Pupil dilation is symmetrical. Follow my finger?" The Alpha did. "Good. How does your head feel?"

"Just a headache," he retorted. The EMT checked his breath sounds and blood pressure.

The EMT nodded. "Alright. You should be fine to go home, but if you start puking, get blurry vision, feel dizzy, or faint—you need to come to the hospital immediately. It could be signs that there's a brain bleed, or swelling. Okay?"

Oliver nodded impatiently and the EMT left him. The Alpha instantly turned his attention to Tommy. The cuts on his face had been cleaned (The one on his cheek got butterfly tape), along with the bite on his neck which had been bandaged like Oliver's head. The bruising on his torso was superficial, no broken or cracked ribs. His knuckles where bruised on both hands, but only a couple where split on his right. The EMT had given him a snap icepack for his left knee and had wrapped it.

"So much for delightful packaging, huh?" Tommy tried to joke, flicking at the flaps that were his now cut pant leg.

"I don't care about the packing," Oliver told him, "I care about what's underneath."

Tommy gave a small smile. "I know that was meant platonically, but... you sure you can't just close those doors and have your way with me really quickly?"

He gave a soft chuckle. "I really wish that's what could have happened—"

"But it's my goddamned Merlyn-luck." Tommy intoned. "Which is to say: I get fucked over instead of fuck by _you_."

"That's what you call it?" Diggle questioned, standing at the bumper of the ambulance looking up at the pair. "Very eloquent, Merlyn."

"Thought you might like that."

Oliver stepped down from the ambulance and helped Tommy down with his knee. Another squad car was called and the coroner's van finally arrived with the crime scene technician.

"You talked with the officer?" the blond prompted.

Diggle nodded. "I told them that Tommy was familiar with your attackers. They're calling in the detective from that case."

Tommy sighed. "Det. Lance," he glanced at Oliver, "I saw him and Laurel leaving the restaurant as we were seated."

"Just another thing for him to hate me over," Oliver cursed. "Getting him called into work on Father's Day, pulling him away from Laurel, to the man who took his youngest away from him forever. Yeah," he scoffed, carding fingers through his hair, "He'll be delighted for that Father's Day surprise. They don't have a Hall Mark card for this yet, do they?"

He'd only seen Laurel that once in the hospital when she was on her way out. Their first and only encounter since he'd been back, definitely went better than he ever expected, but he only thought that was because of Tommy and Rebecca. Quentin Lance, on the other hand... there'd been no encounters no run-ins between them. Oliver knew it was inevitable, that it would happen eventually whether he wanted it or either of them were ready—but _now_ of all times? On _Father's Day_? The universe was cruel.

"Oliver..." Tommy rubbed his back sympathetically. "You can't keep blaming yourself for Sara and neither can Lance. She was an adult, too. She decided to cheat with her sister's boyfriend. There was no illusion to what was happening, what the two of you were when she got on _The Gambit._ You didn't put a gun to her head," he whispered and Oliver flinched a little at that.

No, Fyers did, but the Alpha might as well have in the end, only Shado got her brains blown out instead. "I don't want to talk about this."

Tommy pressed his lips together and said nothing further on the matter.

"The officer said that we could head home, but the detective would be speaking to you either tonight, or in the morning for a more detailed statement." Diggle said.

They started to make their way back to the town car as the residence of the street were looking through their windows, curious, or coming out into the street.

The twenty-minute car ride back to their apartment building (holding hands the entire way), was just long enough for the exhaustion to set in for the couple after the adrenaline rush, the extension of the fight, the claiming. Tommy just wanted to get home, kiss Rebe, and sleep until morning with Oliver in his arms.

x—o

Felicity and Thea were definitely surprised come the end of those twenty-minutes. Having put Rebecca down at her bedtime after feeding and changing her, the Beta and Alpha were now watching a scary movie. Felicity didn't know how she let the teenager talk her into it. Weren't girls-nights supposed to be painting nails, braiding hair, chocolate things, and rom-coms? Thea was definitely not your regular teenage girl; losing both your brother and father in the same swoop tended modulate what constituted 'dangerous' or 'frightening'. Plus, Felicity could be a total pushover when it came to things like that; how do you think Tommy convinced her to do certain things? {like a little thing called hacking Roy’s phone and tracking the GPS to see when he made it to the apartment building for their little cannibal-play}

It was at a particularly frightening part that was very bloody, strobe-y, and shrilly when the lock on the door jiggled. There was definitely some (genuine) girly shrieks (their owners identities confidential). But after a hair-raising moment, the pair settled back down (luckily not waking Rebecca Meghan) at the obvious realization that robbers didn't have the keys to the apartment.

"What happened to 'see you in the morning'?" Felicity started twisted around on the couch to see as they stepped in, "Did you chic—" she stopped as she took in either of their battered appearances, and Diggle's grim expression as he came in after them, shutting the apartment door. "Tommy?" she gasped.

"Oliver!" Thea exclaimed, running around the couch in her Snoopy nightgown and to her brother, and throwing him into a heedless hug. But Oliver caught her slight form easily to his chest

Felicity couldn't seem to get herself off the couch and to the Omega. It felt like her heart was stuck inside her throat, choking her. She was thrown right back into that hospital room seven-months ago.

Tommy kicked off his (now scuffed) shoes and dropped his jacket in the same place, and limped lightly to the couch. He sunk down next to her wearily. The shift in his weight on the cushion had her slanted towards him. Her hip bumped against his arm.

"They were attacked walking to the car from the restaurant," Diggle informed the two women.

"Ollie?" Thea looked up at her big brother.

Oliver gave her a reassuring smile, though there was a tightness around his eyes (both from the injury and strain), brushing her brown wavy hair from her face. "We're both alright."

"Tommy?" Felicity finally uttered, looking at the exhausted Omega next to her and all that filled her view were the bruises that painted the side of his face, the stark-white bandage on his neck with trace amounts of blood soaking through.

Tommy turned his head on the back of the couch to look at her. He gave her a gently smile and opened his arms to her slightly in invitation. Tears pricked her eyes behind her glasses, and not knowing exactly how he was injured, but having noticing the limp, she didn't crawl into his lap like she wanted to. Instead, she shifted on the couch on her knees to face him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her face in the uninjured side of his neck, trying to cry quietly.

Tommy rolled his eyes a little, his black-eye half-hooded. "Felicity," and hauled her into his lap. He held her, petting her loose, thick blond hair. "Like Oliver said, we're both okay. I'm not going anywhere."

She sniffled, trying to rub her tears away on his collarbone, knocking her glasses off. She found them with a searching hand, but stayed burrowed against his chest. "You smell different," she mumbled.

"Not different." He corrected, "Like _them._ " He squeezed her tight for a moment, before he shifted her off his lap again and on the neighbouring cushion. "Give me and Ollie ten minutes to get cleaned up a little. And to burn these clothes—it's too bad, I rather liked this leather jacket." He attempted a joke (that held honest truth to it). He was never going to wear these clothes again—all the way down to his socks and underwear.

"'Kay." She nodded. She sniffed, taking a deep breath, palming her tears away and slipping her glasses back on.

Tommy pressed his lips to her forehead before he climbed slowly to his feet with a slight grimace. Oliver kissed the top of Thea's head, releasing her, and he and the other man disappeared down the hall.

(The couple took five minutes in the bathroom, stripping, giving a quick wash with a cloth [they were to exhausted to have a thorough shower right now], giving each other the once over to make sure the other was _actually_ alright [physically at least] and quickly got redressed in more comfortable clothing. The next five minutes they slipped into Rebecca's room, held each other and watched her sleeping in her crib just to assure themselves that the pup was actually alright and not affected this time around).

Felicity got from the couch and approached the two remaining Alphas, taking hold of the teen's hand, they looked to Diggle.

"What happened, John?" the blond asked quietly.

"It doesn't seem to have been a random attack," he admitted.

"What do you mean?"

He sighed. "Tommy I.D'd them as the same Alphas that attacked him at the bus stop."

"What?!" the two women exclaimed.

"They're supposed to be in prison!" Thea growled.

Felicity shook her head. "That doesn't make any sense," she agreed. "That can't be right."

Diggle could only shrug. "I think we can all agree something is wrong with this picture if it's true and I'm inclined to believe him whether it makes _sense_ or not. You don't make a mistake like that after something like what he went through. It becomes ingrained, Felicity."

"They're looking into this, right?" Thea asked. "They're doing something about it."

He nodded. "They're calling in the detective that handled his previous attack,"

Felicity gave an internal groan. "Det. Lance."

When the couple returned, the four of the finally all settled on the couch; Tommy and Oliver in the middle, and the women on their respective sides. Diggle shedded his shoes at the door like the others, and hung his jacket on the back of the kitchen chair where he seated himself. The horror movie was turned to a neutral channel; some late-night Hall Mark Father's Day TV-movie they put in the program for the holiday.

There wasn't idle chit-chat as they sat. Each was off in their own little whirl-wind of thoughts and reflection. Staring blankly at the television or off into space. To say the least, (nearing eleven o'clock) they all jumped as there was a knocked at the door; though most prominently were Oliver and Diggle—on their feet.

Diggle's was more smooth and controlled. Professional like the Queen security/driver he was. Oliver's was more of a lethal, primal reaction, a deadly sound emitting lowly from him (making everyone else more tense and nervous in response).

"It's okay," Tommy said. He grasped Oliver's wrist and pulled himself to his feet with a light grunt. "It'll be Det. Lance, I'm sure. He's not the enemy here. I'll get it."

"Merlyn—" Diggle huffed, but for an exhausted and knee-challenged Omega, he was pretty quick and already at the door before the Alpha could get into the living room.

And true to his assumption, Quentin Lance and an uniform officer behind his shoulder, were waiting in the hall.

He was in a nicer suit, the same that he had worn to dinner with Laurel at the restaurant. Tommy felt a sense of guilt. This really could have waited until the morning for all of them. For him and Oliver to settle into their bond, for Quentin to have his night with Laurel undisturbed. It wasn't like those Alphas could come after him again, not unless ghosts really existed.

The harshness of his expression subsided slightly as he took in the Omega. "Kid—" he gave his head a shake. "Are you a magnet for trouble?"

Tommy gave him a small tight smile, as much as he could manage with his swollen lip. "Det. Lance, I'm sorry you had to be pulled into work, tonight of all nights."

"Well, it's not like these things get put on a schedule, Mr. Merlyn." Lance told him a little tartly.

"Right." He uttered. He let the detective and officer in, stepping aside, kicking his shoes and discarded jacket out of the way and closing the door. The atmosphere instantly changed when Oliver and Lance met gazes.

The living room was larger than the one in Felicity's old apartment, but stuffed full with four Alphas (two of which were putting off pretty challenging pheromones), and two innocent Betas, with one weary Omega caught in-between—the entire apartment didn't seem big enough for that.

"Det. Lance." Oliver greeted the older Alpha tightly.

"Mr. Queen," Lance said like the name put a bitter taste in his mouth. And though he gave him the courtesy title, it was in a tone more than marginally different to what he'd delivered Tommy's greeting with. "Back six months and not a single run-in with the cops... that must be a record for you."

"Um, we can do this in the kitchen, I think." Tommy voiced.

There was a moment of utter silence as they continued to stare at each other, before Lance nodded and Tommy directed him to the obvious kitchen area. The Omega walked briefly with his Alpha, a hand on the small of his back.

The officer and Diggle sort of hung back, standing in an alerted-at-ease stance, observing. Thea and Felicity, present, not crowding, but a hovering presence all the same. Lance seated and Tommy made sure to 'herd' Oliver into a chair that put the most distance between them, with one for himself in between. But the Omega paused before sitting.

"Can I get you a coffee or water, detective?" Tommy questioned, hand on the back of the chair, putting his weight of his wrapped knee. The snap icepack that the EMT had given him, and tucked into the wrap around his knee had long since lost its cooling factor and was now just a light weight dragging at his already weary limb, but _now_ was not the time to deal with it.

"Uh. N—"

" _I'll_ get that," Felicity told Tommy pointedly with a glare, bustling into the kitchen, pushing him (gently) into the chair he was leaning on, before going over to the counter to make the coffee.

"Alright." Lance sighed, glancing away from her forcefulness and to the couple, a fresh notebook dug from his duster. "Talk me through what happened."

Felicity remembered the last time that she heard Det. Lance say those same words. She tried to keep her breaths even as she watched the pot of coffee gurgle as it brewed. This time she knew, the outcome had been utterly better. Tommy didn't end up in the hospital. Rebecca wasn't involved. And those bastards were dead! Did it make her a terrible person to be _glad_ upon the very latter? A little bit of self-reflection she wasn't in the mood to consider right now.

She took out seven varying mugs from the cupboard. She forewent the animal mugs, she didn't want them involved in this grim atmosphere. She went down the line of mugs with the sugar bowl. She knew everyone’s home coffee order, but for the two officers—she took an educated guess and went with black. She went around the kitchen and living room, handing out the steaming mugs.

No one seemed to be touching the coffee. Getting a caffeine jolt with everyone’s nerves so raw probably wasn't the best idea. Maybe she should have made tea instead? But she'd just needed to do something, to try and distract herself and her shaky hands. She had to be Tommy's rock the first time, but now Oliver was back, just like the Omega had cried for back in the hospital—she had the guilty thought of wondering if she could be a little selfish this time around.

Lance looked up from his notebook and across at Oliver. "Do you think you can clarify that a little more for me, Mr. Queen?"

"I don't know what else I can tell you." Oliver told him, staring straight back. "I didn't see much. It was dark, I was struck on the head pretty hard. It was a man. He was hooded. And he saved my life."

"A guy in a hood just flew in a single-handedly took out two of the assailants, saving you at this crucial moment. I mean, who is he?" he made a gesture with his pen, "Why would he do that?"

"I don't know. Find him and you can ask."

"Ah." Lance jotted something in his notebook, and looked up at Tommy. "And you said you didn't see him?"

Tommy shook his head. "I was a little distracted with my own fight. My priority was getting him to stop and getting to Oliver." He glanced at the blond Alpha, "But I don't think I would have gotten to him in time." He looked back at Lance, "So if you ever _do_ find the man in the hood... I want to thank him."

"To thank him?" Lance repeated. "He _killed_ two men, brutally and without hesitation. This is a dangerous man. He's not someone you should thank. He should be arrested."

"He _saved_ Oliver." Tommy said firmly. "I killed a man in that alley," there were two female gasps at this news but he ignored them and continued, "Are you going to arrest _me_? You shouldn't be concerned about a man that saved us, and should instead focus on the fact of what you told me in the hospital after the first attack—!"

Oliver put a hand on his shoulder, and Tommy instantly stopped. He slumped back in his chair, his ribs aching as he breathed a little heavily. He stared at the cup of untouched coffee sitting in front of him on the table. He could smell the faint scent of vanilla from the creamer that Felicity always put in it and got him hooked on, but right now it smelled sickly-sweet and not pleasant or mouth-watering.

"You acted in clear self-defence, Mr. Merlyn." Lance clarified. "There will be no charges for the Alpha's death."

"This was a targeted attack, detective." Oliver said in a hard-tone. "These were the same men that attacked Tommy seven months ago. They were arrested and sentenced to  **5** years in prison. _How_ could they have been released?"

"We're aware of who they are." Lance relented slightly. "And it'll be looked into, trust me. In the meantime, I'll put a detail on Tommy."

"We'll provide our own security." He returned firmly. "Mr. Diggle is employed as security by my family and he lives just across the hall."

Lance scoffed at that. "And Mr. Diggle did a bang-up job this evening regarding your security." He looked through the entryway of the kitchen to find Diggle. Several growls sounded around the two rooms from its occupants. The officer next to Diggle shifted uneasily on his feet, but Lance completely disregarded them. "In your statement it was clarified that you arrived _cleanly_ after the attack."

"Instead of pointing fingers," Felicity spoke up lowly, "You should look at yourselves, do the job that you're paid to do, and find out how this happened a second time." Thea squeezed her shoulder and nodded her agreement.

Oliver was doing a great job at keeping just how angry and frustrated he was concealed, both visually and by Scent. But Tommy could still feel it, sense it. It was like an itch under his skin almost. Not something he'd felt before, even with as close and attune as he had always been with Oliver. It had never been like _this_.

His fingers twitched on his thigh out of view under the table as he resisted the urge to reach up for the bandaged that covered the side of his neck. This feeling, he decided, must be the bondbite. It definitely wasn't the exhaustion, ache, or shock—he knew what that was like unfortunately.

Lance addressed the Omega pointedly, "Tommy, it's your decision."

"Huh? Oh," Tommy looked up, blinking. "Um," he glanced at Oliver before looking back at Quentin. "Whatever Oliver said is fine. Thank you, detective."

Lance shook his head. "Just because he's your Alpha, doesn't mean you can't make your own decisions, Tommy. A bonding-bite these days has about as much legitimacy with law as much as a promise ceremony." Yes, he'd seen the EMTs reports on them both on the way over, he knew what was under that bandage.

And, it was true. Previous of the last two-decades, the Mated bond-bite held all authority between couples. The bite was a collar, the giver the master. His authority overruled the receivers decisions. But two decades ago, the Bill was passed to change that and the Mated bond-bite was all but turned moot in consideration of the law. Nowadays, it was as superficial as the renewing your vows. What really counted was the legal and binding paperwork of a marriage license officiated by a judge or minister. Now, there were little ceremonies that could be held for Mated pairs if they wished, but those were as legal as promise rings. But the mark was to be reported in you medical file, under health relevance.

"My decision stands, detective." Tommy said through his teeth, his eyes hard. It was a little difficult to tell what was his own and what he was picking up off the blond Alpha. His patience and hospitality for the detective was coming to a sudden end—especially after the Alpha's jab at Diggle and insensitive comment about Oliver and his new bond.

"Of course." Lance stood and Oliver mirrored him. "We'll look into the situation and call with a follow-up. If anything happens or you remember something, call the number and I’ll come by."

Tommy nodded. He exhaled and put on a less hostile attitude. "Say hi to Laurel for me?" he rose to his feet, his palm flat on the tabletop. "We haven't seen each other since Rebecca was born..."

Lance just nodded curtly and collecting his officer, left, multiple glares burning holes in his jacket.

A defined muteness claimed the apartment. But Oliver ignored it and focused on Tommy.

Oliver put a hand gently on the Omega's back. "Hey. You okay?" he asked softly with concern.

"I don't know." Tommy emitted. "I think I'm still in shock. At least Rebe wasn't there this time. But you," he looked at the blond with concerned eyes, "How's your head?"

"Just a headache."

"I saw the blood, Oliver."

"Would it make you feel better if I told you I've had worse?"

"No. Not in the least."

Oliver sighed. "I thought so."

"At least their dead this time." Tommy muttered. "Dead men can't hurt you."

Oliver just hugged the Omega to his chest. He truly hoped that was the truth, but in his gut he wasn't so sure.

"Oliver," Diggle spoke, taking a single step forward. "Do you want me to—"

"You can sleep in your own bed tonight, Dig." Oliver told him over Tommy's head. "I don't think anything else is going to happen tonight." Diggle nodded. He said goodnight. Felicity gave him a hug before he left. "I think it's passed everyone’s bedtime," he addressed the two women.

Felicity and Thea shared a look and nodded. Tommy pulled himself from Oliver, they exchanged hugs, kisses and goodnights. The couple headed to the bathroom, nursery (thankfully, the pup had slept through all the charged pheromones and raised voices), then bed. The teen and Beta shared a similar ritual. Felicity locked the apartment door and slipped on the chain. Thea slept in her bed with her.

x—x

Oliver was wide-awake laying in bed in the darkness, with Tommy curled up against his side, in his arms, laying on his chest, exhausted. It was in that alley, after the attack, that he had made the decision would become his reality with his following move. The man in the hood was a figment that he'd made up. Tommy knew this was the truth, that the man in the hood was really Oliver, but the others believed some man had come and saved him.

The past six-months, Oliver now realized that he'd hardly thought about what happened on the life raft four-years ago with his father. Before, away from Starling City, he thought about it everyday. Robert's last request for Oliver to right his sins in failing the city. In the light of finally returning to Tommy, of Rebecca's conception, having his family back—it had almost seemed unimportant.

What could be so wrong with a City that had given him Tommy and Rebe? But now, he remembered. This was the _second_ time that Tommy had been attacked in the last seven months. The first-time, he could have lost them both and not even known it, half-way across the world; the time that he had wasted in his self-imposed exile on Lian Yu.

And this time... he'd almost lost his Mate even being there. He came to the realisation that there was nothing Starling City's Oliver Queen could do about it. But that man in the hood? He was a different side of Oliver that the island had made. The man that he had become on Lian Yu, with Yao Fei, Slade, and Shado—could. A faceless man, with the City on his shoulders—a penchant for green hoods, arrows, and not pulling punches. He could save this city. Protect the ones that he loved.

But more than that, he was going to find out whoever it was that put the three Alphas on Tommy's scent and make them pay.

[tbc]

* * *

**aRRoW**

**The scene with Tommy and Oliver being woken up by Felicity on Father's Day, I wrote that scene three other times (as you'll see if you read my deleted/altered stuff further down), it was very frustrating. I had to put them here because it wouldn't fit in the end-note box.**

* * *

 

**P.S: So, here are some deleted bits for this chapter. Whatever, I'm posting them here; it's the only way they'll see the light of day:**

#~

Did they think he didn't notice that none of them were even wearing shoes, and that Tommy was in ratty sweats?  
.  
The one-time that Roy _hadn't_ knocked, he'd walked in on Tommy breastfeeding Rebecca. It wasn't a rare occurrence. He didn't go and run to his room, door shut when he fed her. Hell, he'd sit on the couch in the living room, shirtless, watching TV, Rebecca held in one arm, Oliver's head in his lap. Tommy himself wasn't embarrassed about it (and Ollie still loved to watch them), in fact, he probably should have shown _more_ discretion about it.   
.  
The first time the Roy had walked in on him was a hilarious reality. There had been exclaims, loud back-of-the-throat noises, some deer-in-the-headlights action, some spinning-on-heel-rapidly and hiding-away-in-his-hood as he scrambled-from-the-room. The kid couldn't even look Tommy in the eye for a week afterward. And much to the Beta's relief, it was something the Felicity hadn't managed to get recorded on her cell. Usually she was a speedster at whipping that thing out at the important moments. Roy was still grouching that she'd managed to snap a pic of Oliver hugging him in the hospital.

_Was it really that different than if he feed her from a bottle_? That was what he'd asked the Beta. Roy's answer was a definite _yes_.   
  
. **TAKE 1:**  
Tommy sighed happily, snuggling to Oliver's side under the blanket when the Alpha returned to bed. The only difference this time around—he was wearing boxers.

"Hey," he brushed his fingers up and down the Omega's back.

"Mm. I'm sleeping," he mumbled in response, shifting and burying his face in the side of the blond's chest.

"You know what today is?"

"Yeah. It's like our second birthday, where our friends become our slaves for the day and we get to sleep in."

Oliver chuckled. "I forgot how you get sometimes before you've had your first coffee."

"Can we just—" _pop!_

Felicity ignited a party popper, barging into the Omega's bedroom with hardly a knock. Tommy started a little and his arm briefly tensed around the Alpha's torso, who had completely gone from leisure-to-attack and didn't jump across the bed and nail the Beta down because of Tommy on top of him. Oliver slowly exhaled, trying to breathe out the rigidity. Tommy squeezed his arm in an act of groundage.

Felicity instantly went into a cheerful-toned tirade upon entry: "Happy—this-isn't-actually-your-birthday-and-for-the-last-time-we're-not-your-slaves-but-we-wish-you-all-the-happiness-anyways—Fathers' Day! Yay!"

"It's too early for this!" Tommy groaned, trying it bury his head, unsuccessfully—into Oliver's armpit.

"What are you doing?" there was laughter in Oliver's voice.

"Burying my head in the metaphorical sand." His voice came out muffled. It was dark, it was warm, and it smelled like Oliver and sweat; it smelled like Oliver's sweat. The Omega wasn't sure how he'd managed it, but the Alpha made sweat smell fantastic, very manly. He didn't want to get up, he didn't want to move from the bed. Today was special, it was their first Father's Day, they were breaking their cherries on this celebrated day. He didn't want to leave the safety of the bed—

"It's after noon, Tommy." Felicity pointed out. "Now get your lazy bum out of bed and visit with your daughter before she forgets her dad's face."

"Alright. Alright." Tommy conceded. "Let's do this." He rolled over and sat up, his hairy chest bare and the blanket pooled at his waist. "Put her on a breakfast tray and I'll take her in bed. Oh, I'll have that with a side of coffee, too—you know how I like it—and a round of French toast for the bed." He twirled his finger. "Thanks,"

Felicity didn't move. Oliver sat up and looked at him.

"What? I said thanks. Now chop-chop," he clapped.

"Ohh, it's way too early in the afternoon. I'm not drunk enough for this." She muttered, rubbing her forehead. "It's cocktail hour somewhere. Okay," she took a deep breath and clasped her hands and addressed the Omega. "Coffee and late-late breakfast will be ready when you get out of bed and come to the kitchen. You're my friend and I love you... so I will not spit in your coffee—I'm a good hostess like that, I'll have you know. Good? Alright. Oliver," she nodded curtly to the Alpha, who nodded back and she left, closing the bedroom door.

Tommy stared at it, feeling like a total ass and a bunch of other things that made him feel craggy. He let out a groan, falling back onto the bed.

"Wow, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Oliver remarked, looking down at him. "I know you were supposed to be joking, but it came out kind of sarcastic and uncaring."

"Yeah, Dr. Phil, tell me something I don't already know and regret." He snapped, scrubbing at his face.

"Tommy," he twisted around so he was facing the other man. He watched him, his alpha-responsive reacting as he Scented.

"Fuck, I'm sorry, Oliver." He sighed heavily and flopped his arms out on either side of him. "I don't know why I was an ass to Felicity, she didn't deserve that. Neither did you. I'm sorry."

Oliver put a hand on his thigh over the blanket, giving it a squeeze to draw his blue-eyes. The Omega glanced down at him. "Your pheromones smell... a little sour. Tommy, what's wrong."

"Nothing." He threw off the blanket and effectively Oliver's comforting hand.   
  
. **TAKE 2:**  
Tommy went to bed the previous night, sated, happy, safe and in the arms of the man that he loved. He was awoken as said man slipped from under his arm and out of bed. He'd slept alone for so long, now that he finally had Oliver home and with him, his body was becoming in tune with the Alpha's presence in sleep just after the month that Oliver had started staying over since his birthday.

"Ollie?" he mumbled, trying to forced himself awake. He leaned up on his elbow, and wavered sleepily.

"I'm just going to the bathroom." Oliver hushed him, pulling on his boxers and slipping out door to the bathroom the short distance at the end of the hall, leaving the Omega alone.

The room was dark, the thick curtains drawn. The alarm clock on his end table was blurry, but he thought it said seven. Oliver was only gone two minutes, but Tommy's guts were knotted with unfounded unease. But Oliver returned and he let out a breath of relief as the Alpha slipped back into the bed, boxers still on. Tommy leaned forward on his elbow, teetering sleepily for a moment, before draping himself over Oliver's scarred chest, feeling the hard muscle and strong beating heart under his cheek with reality.

Oliver wrapped an arm around him, hugging him close, stroking the nape of the Omega's neck, and lulling him back into a worry-free sleep. Next Tommy woke, he was draped over the blond's chest. He blinked at the clock. Noon. But the room still lay in near darkness.

"Hey," Oliver brushed his fingers up and down the Omega's back, his voice low. "You awake sleeping-head?"

"Mm." Tommy answered, tightening and arm around his waist. "I'm sleeping." He buried his face in his chest and made sleepy-noises to prove his point. He did not want to get out of bed.

"You know today's a special day, right? It can't really be had without us." He reminded.

"Yeah." Tommy grunted. "It's like our second birthday. Which means we should just grab Rebe and stay in bed. Let's just do that today, okay?"

Oliver furrowed his brow. "Since when do you want to stay in bed when there's cake, coffee, and our daughter in the next room?"

"They wouldn't be in the next room," Tommy counted, "They'd be in bed with us."

"Since you've met Felicity, has there been anything that's gone uncelebrated—especially since Rebecca?" he pointed out.

Tommy squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his forehead against Oliver's collarbone. That ill feeling was starting up in his stomach again, like earlier that morning. "Can we just—"

_pop!_ Felicity burst into his room, like she was usually wont to do, pulling the tab on a party popper in her hand, showering confetti on the unsuspecting pair.

Both male bodies were flooded with adrenaline. Oliver flashed from leisure to attack in an instant, his body wound like a spring about to snap. The only reason he didn't jump across the bed and tackle Felicity like she was one of General Shrieve'smen, was because Tommy. He reacted like he was shielding Oliver from an explosion, squeezing tightly.

"Happy Fathers' Day!" Felicity called cheerily, sunlight leaking in through the halls to accompany it.

"Can you just knock for once?!" Tommy growled harshly at her, panting with adrenaline.

The Beta blinked at him, taken by surprise, and she wasn't the only one. "Um, well, okay. Sorry. I'll just..." she waved backward into the hall. She swallowed. "Sorry." She backed out and quickly shut the door.

"Tommy?" Oliver questioned in shock.

Tommy stayed where he was, a defensive position between Oliver and the door. He stared at the shut door in the darkness of the room. He felt terrible. And a bunch of other things that made him feel... uneven.

"I can't believe I just yelled at her like that." He scrubbed a hand over his face and rolled to the other side of the bed.

Oliver slowly sat up and turned to him, watching the Omega carefully. "That was definitely not a normal response," he agreed. He understood his own response. Six months back in friendly territory didn't just erase almost four-years of constant alert and instant reaction in hostile territory. Tommy's was, well, a defence against an unseen aggressor that was not the Beta.

"Yeah, Dr. Phil, don't stop there." He grumbled.

"Tommy." He tasted something sour in the back of his throat as he Scented the stress in the Omega's pheromones.

"Fuck, I'm sorry, Oliver." Tommy cursed himself. He turned to the Alpha and sat up. "I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm sorry. And Felicity—Shit. I need to apologize to her too. Big time."

Oliver murmured quietly, "I can taste your stress in your pheromones, Tommy." He put a comforting and encouraging hand on the Omega's thigh. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. Just a bad dream." He said. "And before you even ask. I don't remember, I just feel icky. I'm alright." Tommy threw off the blanket and effectively Oliver's hand, standing from the bed. He quickly slipped on his flannel pants from the floor. His underwear was somewhere; it and everything else having been quickly discarded and cast aside last night in the dark. He snatched his tee up and slipped in on overhead as he went to the door. "I'll just have a quick shower."  
  
. **TAKE 3:**  
Tommy's afternoon had started out great.

He'd gone to bed and woken up in Oliver's arms. His sleeping patterns were subject to great change since Rebecca's birth, since his sleep patterns tended to follow with her own sleep and other such needs like feeding, changing, or soothing through out the night. But now that she was a little older, he had a tiny bit more control on her schedule. She usually slept through the night now.

But it hadn't been Rebe that woke him, or Oliver really—but Felicity. The previous night, with Rebecca down for the night and him and Oliver heading to bed, she'd claimed the baby monitor from him and told them to sleep in tomorrow, shed take care of Rebecca until then. Tommy's hugged her and kissed her goodnight with a grin.

Goddamn he loved sleeping in. Sleeping in (especially with Oliver) was like his crack, without having an actually drug problem. And to know what waited him and Oliver the next morning, was the cherry on top.   
.  
Felicity had taken the baby monitor from him, before he and Oliver headed off to bed. She gave them the pleasant leisure of sleeping in the next morning. Tommy happily took the offer, even if tomorrow marked a special occasion, he'd never deny himself a sleep-in.  
.  
Back in his party-boy days he used to party-all-night and sleep-all-day. Now, he woke-up-early and went-to-bed-early.   
.  
"You're welcome." Tommy winked over his clothing clad shoulder.

The Alpha raised a brow. "Oh, so you're saying the blow job—"

"Was a priceless gift? ... Yes."  
.  
They were handed menus and their wine order taken and served, and their meals chosen.   
.  
Two went after Oliver. He was the Alpha, he was the more perceived threat. Once they took him out, corralling Tommy wouldn't be an issue.  
.  
The slight pressure that had started to build in his chest in the restaurant since feeding Rebecca Meghan vanished as his milk ducts dried as the upsurge in his hormones.  
.  
He froze in his pace as he Scented the change in Tommy's floating scent that put a faint heat in his belly, and Oliver's dominant and sharp musk that gave Diggle goosebumps and made his hackles rise.

The lingering sweet scent of an Omega's Heat, the hard musk of the short-lived Rut. Alpha Ruts were never a pleasant scent for other Alphas, they served to antagonize and challenge other Alphas, not entice like the scent of an Omegas pre/present/post-Heat.

He'd seen it before, in combat situations during his tour in Afghanistan. Where unsanctioned bonds were formed in the unstable, unpredictable combat zone. Most often, it wasn't even about sex, but the intimacy of the connection, of the bond.   
.  
That had not been a typical protective response, that had been the protective response of a bonded-pair and Diggle understood why a moment later when he finally got a look at the Omega—and the claiming-bite that marked his neck.   
.  
Tommy: "There's an official title for what it's called. Merlyn-luck. You know, the original owner is just the carrier, and passes all that _good_ -stuff right onto his 'loved' ones. The central theme? Alleyways. A beating there, a gunshot here. Just ask my mother. No, sorry. She had a bit of Merlyn-luck herself. Getting mugged and shot, left for dead to slowly bleed out usually does it."  
.  
Felicity and Thea were definitely surprised, having put Rebecca down, now watching a scary movie when the lock on the door jiggled. There was definitely some girly shrieks (their identities confidential), but after they settled down from their heart arrhythmias it was obviously not a robber because they were didn't have keys.  
.  
" _Hey, baby girl."_ Tommy's hushed voice was heard through the baby monitor on the coffee table and Felicity quickly took the device in hand and turned it off to give them their privacy.

"Daddy's here, I'm right here." He bent slightly with a stiff exhale and reached into the crib, picking his baby up. "I know I said you'd see me in the morning, but sometimes I'm going to have to break my promises. I'm sure when you're older, you might come to resent me for it, at least for a little while. But right now, I hope you understand. But one thing I can promise and will never take back—is that I'm never going to leave you, I'm always going to come back." He pressed his lips to her crown. "I'm not going anywhere." He chocked back the sob.  
.  
Felicity wasn't stingy with the coffee. She brewed a pot as Oliver and Tommy spoke, giving Lance a full account, and dolled out a cup for everyone. She knew everyone's preference, and gave an educated guess as to the two officers—Black. Everyone got one whether they liked it or not. She just needed to be doing something, even if her hands were a little shaky. She couldn't tell if this was worse or not than when Tommy went through his first account with Lance. Did it make her a bad person that she was _glad_ those Alphas were dead this time around?  
.  
Before, the marking and claiming bond-bite held all the authority between couples. But nowadays, it was as superficial as the officiate for your wedding. What really counted now, was the legal and binding paperwork, the marriage license. Now, there were little 'commitment ceremonies' that were as upheld as promise rings. The bite was marked in one's medical files, but that was it.   
.  
Of course, anyone one bond-bite was not to give to more than one person.  
.  
It was as Rebecca started teething, that Oliver realized he had hardly thought about what happened on that life raft out in sea after the yacht sank. His father's last-request to right his sins in failing the city. In light of Tommy and his daughter, and having his family back again, it almost seemed unimportant. What could be so wrong with a City that had given him Tommy and Rebecca? But then he remembered Tommy's attack, and how he could have lost them both and not even have known it, half-way across the world. The time that he had wasted in his self-imposed exile on the island

He realized that there was nothing Oliver Queen could do about it. But the man that Oliver Queen from Lian Yu had become, could. A faceless man, with the City on his shoulders. With the penchant for arrows and not pulling punches.

y :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Ooh. So, the Hood is starting to be conceived in light of Tommy's attack. Just as I had hoped all the way back in chapter 5. Anyway, I hope the chapter was worth the wait!**
> 
> **Mentioned associated scents: (hit me up if I've missed any that were described/detailed in my story):**
> 
> Tommy 2 Oliver: Vanilla, Citrus, & Maplewood  
> Felicity 2 Oliver: Green Apple  
> Roy 2 Oliver: Olives
> 
> Oliver 2 Tommy: Honey & Black Pepper  
> Thea 2 Tommy: Sugar & Granite  
> Laurel 2 Tommy: Basil & Parchment  
> Malcolm 2 Tommy: Barley & Bitter Cocoa
> 
> Tommy 2 Thea: Spring-shower & Popcorn
> 
> Tommy 2 Diggle: Acorns & Oak Leaves
> 
> Tommy (when pregnant) 2 Felicity: Coffee & Banana


End file.
